Identification of Candidate Genes for Prostate Cancer

Our goal is to identify genes that play a critical role in the development of prostate cancer. Thespecific aim of Phase I is to use differential display (Liang and Pardee, 1992) to identify differentiallyexpressed genes in normal prostate and tumorigenic prostate cell lines. Differentially amplified bands willbe evaluated by hybridization to Northern blots. Viable candidate genes will be sequenced and comparedfor homology to known genes in GenBank. In addition to identifying candidate genes for prostatecancer, modifications to increase the specificity and efficiency of the differential display technique willbe tested. These will include the use of alternate primers and an assessment of the feasibility ofincorporating a subtractive hybridization step. Since prostate cancer represents the most frequent cancerin US males, an understanding of the molecular nature of the disease will have significant medicalimpact.