Exploring the function of UCHL1 in different prostate cancer subtypes
Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in the American male population. Aggressive variant prostate cancer is characterized by androgen receptor signaling loss, which is dangerous because it leads to androgen deprivation therapy resistance and a lower chance of survival. UCHL1, a deubiquitinating protein, is overexpressed in AR negative cells. It has also been shown to play a role in metastasis and invasion. I studied the effects of knocking out the gene in AR negative cells and compared it with the results of overexpressing the gene in AR positive cells. I used Western blotting to look at the expression levels of proteins of interest such as UCHL1, clonogenic assays to look at metastasis and cell scratch assays to look at invasion capability. Overall, the experiments showed no significant results that indicated a link between the gene and metastasis/invasion. The experiments with 22RV1s (AR+) showed results that, while not statistically significant, were still notable. Experiments should be repeated with better control for errors and it may be useful to use other tests to study these characteristics.