Autonomic nerve regulation for prostate cancer: study based on the tissue transcriptional analysis

Fang Liu; Huan Xu; Junyi Chen; Bo Yang; Lin Zhao; Jin Ji; Zhi Cao; Ji Lyu; Fubo Wang

doi:10.21037/tcr-20-2053

Autonomic nerve regulation for prostate cancer: study based on the tissue transcriptional analysis

Transl Cancer Res. 2020 Nov;9(11):6755-6767. doi: 10.21037/tcr-20-2053.

Authors

Fang Liu^#¹, Huan Xu^#², Junyi Chen^#³, Bo Yang², Lin Zhao², Jin Ji², Zhi Cao², Ji Lyu², Fubo Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Pingxiang People's Hospital, Pingxiang, China.
² Department of Urology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Urology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: The whole-body energy metabolism is regulated by autonomic nerves which also play important roles in the regulation of the generation and development of different kinds of cancers. This study is to analyze the expression of autonomic nerve receptors and their relationship with the development of prostate cancer (PCa) and to further understand the central regulation of the prostate.

Methods: RNA sequencing data concerning autonomic nerve receptors from paired tumor and adjacent benign tissues from 65 patients were collected. The mRNA expression and patient data were analyzed. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data confirmed the results, and Pearson analysis, Pearson heat maps, gene heat maps, multivariate logistic regression models, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Pearson's analysis were analyzed for correlation analysis in this study.

Results: Reads with eight receptors associated with PCa generation were finally retained in this report. Favorable relationships were found among the different autonomic nerve regulators for the prostate. In univariate logistic regression analysis, adrenoceptor alpha 1A (ADRA1A) was the most positively correlated [OR (95% CI): 1.707 (1.209, 2.410)]; the area under the curve (AUC) in the ROC for ADRA1A was 0.866 (P<0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, a predicted formulation for PCa diagnosis was evident. The GSEA results also showed the effect of autonomic nerves on cancer generation and some of the key cancer-related pathways, as well as Notch, Wnt and steroid biosynthesis pathways. Finally, five articles were reviewed to elucidate the center-autonomic nerve system-periphery circuit in the prostate.

Conclusions: Central regulation plays an important role in the development of PCa, presenting the opportunity to treat the disease, and additional studies are warranted.

Keywords: Autonomic nerve; parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS); prostate cancer (PCa); sympathetic nervous system (SNS).