Exploring the role of Paraoxonase-2 in bladder cancer: analyses performed on tissue samples, urines and cell culturess

The enzyme paraoxonase-2 (PON2) is ubiquitously expressed and exerts its antiapoptotic and antioxidative functions in several intracellular compartments. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of PON2 in bladder cancer (BC). The expression levels of PON2 in paired tumor and normal bladder tissue samples and in urinary exfoliated cells from patients affected with BC and healthy donors were evaluated. Moreover, the effect of PON2 overexpression on tumor cell proliferation and susceptibility to oxidative stress was investigated in human bladder cancer cell line T24. Our results showed that PON2 expression levels were significantly higher in BC compared with non-tumor tissue. In urinary exfoliated cells from BC patients, PON2 mRNA levels showed an inverse correlation with tumor stage (pT). Moreover, PON2 overexpression in T24 cells led to a significant increase in tumor cell proliferation and resistance to oxidative stress. The results obtained showed that PON2 could represent a molecular biomarker for bladder cancer and suggest a potential role of the enzyme as a prognostic factor for this neoplasm.