Humanin: A Novel Therapeutic Target in Prostate Cancer

摘要

Humanin is a recently discovered potent survival peptide encoded by the 16S mitochondrial RNA. We cloned humanin as an insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) antagonist, and others identified it as a Bax antagonist. We hypothesize that humanin is an important prostate cancer regulator and that it may have a role as a diagnostic or prognostic marker in this disease. We proposed to characterize the role of humanin as a regulator of cell survival, growth, and signalling in prostate cancer in vitro, to define its interactions with IGF related molecules including IGFBP-3. We also proposed to identify alterations in humanin levels in sera and tissues of men with prostate cancer using a serum bank and a CaP tissue array. Our data so far indicates that humanin is present in prostate and seminal plasma, and is increased in prostate cancer specimens and its presence is a poor prognostic factor for disease free survival. As findings indicate that humanin levels are related to outcome in CaP, using humanin assays as a potential prognostic tool in patients with prostate cancer could improve treatment decisions in the future.