Publications

2026

  • Androgen receptor drives divergent chromatin accessibility programs in benign and malignant prostate epithelial cells

    Androgen receptor (AR) activation alters chromatin structure in prostate cancer (PC) cells, but its impact in nonmalignant prostate epithelial cells (NPEC) remains poorly characterized due to lack of representative models. We leveraged our previously established NPEC (RWPE-1-AR and RWPE-1-Ctrl) and PC (LNCaP-pcDNA3.1 and LNCaP-ARhi) cell models to profile androgen-driven chromatin responses using assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing (ATAC-seq). In the absence of androgen,...
  • Disruption of androgen receptor-cofactor interactions by the RNA-binding protein FUS/TLS alters androgen signalling in prostate cancer

    Prostate cancer is dependent upon the androgen receptor (AR), the activity of which is modified by cofactors that either enhance or repress its activity, often in a context-dependent manner. FUS/TLS is a multifunctional protein known to be important in multiple cancer types; in prostate cancer, we previously showed that FUS has a potential tumour suppressor role. Here, transcriptomic analysis of the LNCaP prostate cancer cell line shows a significant overlap in genes regulated by FUS and the...

2025

  • Identification of protein-coding genes associated with metastatic prostate cancer

    Prostate cancer (PCa) is a significant cause of male mortality worldwide. Since metastases are the underlying cause of lethality, identifying markers for metastatic potential would be highly valuable. To address this issue, we set out to identify protein-coding genes with metastasis-specific expression changes in PCa. We employed a previously reported unique cohort consisting of metastases from castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and matching primary tumors. Our comprehensive gene...
  • PIONEER big data platform for prostate cancer: lessons for advancing future real-world evidence research

    Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Enhancement through the Power of Big Data in Europe (PIONEER) is a European network of excellence for big data in prostate cancer. PIONEER brings together 34 private and public stakeholders from 9 countries in one multidisciplinary research consortium with the aim of positively transforming the field of prostate cancer clinical care by answering pressing questions related to prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment. PIONEER has developed a unique...

2024

  • Single cell and spatial transcriptomics highlight the interaction of club-like cells with immunosuppressive myeloid cells in prostate cancer

    Prostate cancer treatment resistance is a significant challenge facing the field. Genomic and transcriptomic profiling have partially elucidated the mechanisms through which cancer cells escape treatment, but their relation toward the tumor microenvironment (TME) remains elusive. Here we present a comprehensive transcriptomic landscape of the prostate TME at multiple points in the standard treatment timeline employing single-cell RNA-sequencing and spatial transcriptomics data from 120 patients....
  • PIONEER big data platform for prostate cancer: lessons for advancing future real-world evidence research

    Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Enhancement through the Power of Big Data in Europe (PIONEER) is a European network of excellence for big data in prostate cancer. PIONEER brings together 34 private and public stakeholders from 9 countries in one multidisciplinary research consortium with the aim of positively transforming the field of prostate cancer clinical care by answering pressing questions related to prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment. PIONEER has developed a unique...
  • Long noncoding RNA EPCART regulates translation through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and PDCD4 in prostate cancer

    While hundreds of cancer-associated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been discovered, their functional role in cancer cells is still largely a mystery. An increasing number of lncRNAs are recognized to function in the cytoplasm, e.g., as modulators of translation. Here, we investigated the detailed molecular identity and functional role of EPCART, a lncRNA we previously discovered to be a potential oncogene in prostate cancer (PCa). First, we interrogated the transcript structure of EPCART and...
  • Germline-specific RNA helicase DDX4 forms cytoplasmic granules in cancer cells and promotes tumor growth

    Cancer cells undergo major epigenetic alterations and transcriptomic changes, including ectopic expression of tissue- and cell-type-specific genes. Here, we show that the germline-specific RNA helicase DDX4 forms germ-granule-like cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein granules in various human tumors, but not in cultured cancer cells. These cancerous DDX4 complexes contain RNA-binding proteins and splicing regulators, including many known germ granule components. The deletion of DDX4 in cancer cells...
  • Survivorship Data in Prostate Cancer: Where Are We and Where Do We Need To Be?

    Cancer survivorship was recently identified as a prostate cancer (PCa) research priority by PIONEER, a European network of excellence for big data in PCa. Despite being a research priority, cancer survivorship lacks a clear and agreed definition, and there is a distinct paucity of patient-reported outcome (PRO) data available on the subject. Data collection on cancer survivorship depends on the availability and implementation of (validated) routinely collected patient-reported outcome measures...

2023

2022