Suggesting Tissue-Specific MSMB Gene Promoter as a Novel Approach for Prostate Targeted Gene Therapy

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men that has affected their quality of life. This study aimed to find prostate tissue-specific genes using bioinformatics methods to specifically target prostate cells in case of metastasis to other tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, after finding a specific gene (MSMB) that is highly expressed in cancer, the optimal promoter region of this gene was isolated and inserted in an expression vector. Then, this vector was transfected into two prostate cancer cell lines (DU145 and LNCaP) and three non-prostate cell lines (LX-2, MRC-5, and U87) using the PEI chemical method. The expression of this vector in these cells was examined using fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry. RESULTS: We observed that the expression of MSMB promoter in DU145 cell line has a much higher activity than the CMV promoter, which is a ubiquitous promoter. The MSMB promoter didn’t show any activity in cells other than that of prostate derived cell lines. CONCLUSION: MSMB gene promoter with specific expression and high efficiency in prostate tissue compared to CMV promoter can play an essential role in gene therapy of prostate cancer.