Association of rs228648 and rs2890565 single nucleotide polymorphisms in urotensin-2 gene with prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is now known as the most frequently diagnosed malignant being responsible for the cancer-related deaths among men worldwide. The aggressiveness of PCa is predicted based on the histological examination followed by grading the disease based on Gleason Score and ISUP Grade. Urotensin II (U-II), encoded by UTS2 gene, is a somatostatin-like cyclic peptide and known to be the most potent vasoconstrictor peptide identified so far. U-II and its receptor, UTR, significant affects both physiological and pathophysiological regulation of many diseases especially cardiovascular and diabetes. Recently, U-II and UTR have been the centre of studies on the cancer pathogenesis especially breast and prostate cancer through their mitogenic and angiogenic effects. Over the years, several polymorphic regions are identified in UTS2 gene such as rs2890565 (S89N, 3836C>G/T) and rs228648 (T21M, 143G>A) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that cause amino acid change. Several studies have shown the association of rs2890565 and rs228648 polymorphisms in UTS2 gene as an important risk factor with the development of diabetes mellitus (DM) and breast cancer. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate for first time in the literature the association of both rs2890565 and rs228648 UTS2 polymorphisms with PCa development in Turkish population. To achieve this purpose, isolated DNA samples of patients and control group were used for genotype analysis by PCR-RFLP technique using specific primer sets for the detection of UTS2 rs2890565 and rs228648 variants. Following gel electrophoresis, to verify genotype analysis, specific samples were sequenced, and statistical analysis were performed based on genotyping with sequence results. Our findings showed that both rs2890565 and rs228648 polymorphisms of UTS2 gene was not associated (p > 0.05) with the risk of development and progression of PCa compared to healthy controls including Gleason score, tumour stage and metastatic state of PCa patients in our subject group.