Prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) (PCA3)

Prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) is a highly specific long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that is significantly overexpressed in more than 95% of prostate cancer tissues compared to normal or benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues (Bussemakers et al., 1999; PubMed: 10446447). Originally identified as Differential Display Code 3 (DD3), PCA3 is located on chromosome 9q21.2 and does not encode a protein product (Salagierski & Schalken, 2012; PubMed: 22433960). Its biological function involves the regulation of prostate cancer cell survival, proliferation, and invasion, potentially through the modulation of the androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathway and the control of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (Ferreira et al., 2012; PubMed: 22824039). Clinically, PCA3 is primarily utilized as a urinary biomarker; the FDA-approved Progensa PCA3 assay measures PCA3 mRNA levels to help determine the necessity of repeat biopsies in men with previous negative results (Dijkstra et al., 2014; PubMed: 24508218). Although not yet targeted by approved pharmaceuticals, PCA3 is an active area of therapeutic research where antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are employed to knock down its expression, thereby inhibiting tumor growth in preclinical models (Vasiljević et al., 2016; PubMed: 27166145).

Other names

DD3Differential display code 3Prostate cancer associated 3 (non-protein coding)PCA3 lncRNA

RNA interference or antisense-mediated degradation of PCA3 transcripts to inhibit oncogenic signaling and induce apoptosis.