FunHoP analysis reveals upregulation of mitochondrial genes in prostate cancer

PLoS One. 2022 Oct 25;17(10):e0275621. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275621. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Mitochondrial activity in cancer cells has been central to cancer research since Otto Warburg first published his thesis on the topic in 1956. Although Warburg proposed that oxidative phosphorylation in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle was perturbed in cancer, later research has shown that oxidative phosphorylation is activated in most cancers, including prostate cancer (PCa). However, more detailed knowledge on mitochondrial metabolism and metabolic pathways in cancers is still lacking. In this study we expand our previously developed method for analyzing functional homologous proteins (FunHoP), which can provide a more detailed view of metabolic pathways. FunHoP uses results from differential expression analysis of RNA-Seq data to improve pathway analysis. By adding information on subcellular localization based on experimental data and computational predictions we can use FunHoP to differentiate between mitochondrial and non-mitochondrial processes in cancerous and normal prostate cell lines. Our results show that mitochondrial pathways are upregulated in PCa and that splitting metabolic pathways into mitochondrial and non-mitochondrial counterparts using FunHoP adds to the interpretation of the metabolic properties of PCa cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Genes, Mitochondrial*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Oxidative Phosphorylation
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / metabolism
  • Tricarboxylic Acids
  • Up-Regulation

Substances

  • Tricarboxylic Acids

Grants and funding

This works was supported by the Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority (RHA) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) to [MBR]; PhD position from Enabling Technologies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) to [KR], the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 758306) [MBT] and The Norwegian Cancer society [MBT]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.