Análise da expressão gênica de componentes do sistema purinérgico no microambiente tumoral e o estresse oxidativo em indivíduos com neoplasia de bexiga

Abstract

Purinergic signaling (PS) and oxidative stress (OS) play central roles in regulating the tumor microenvironment, influencing processes such as cell proliferation, inflammation, and immune evasion. This study aimed to evaluate markers of the purinergic pathway and OS. Results with a p-value of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. The results showed reduced gene expression of NTPDase-1 (CD39) (p=0.0269) and the A2A receptor (p=0.0273) in tumor tissue compared to non-tumor tissue. This was accompanied by an increase in extracellular ATP (ATPe) in the systemic environment of the bladder cancer (BC) group (p<0.0001). Ecto-5’-Nucleotidase (CD73) expression remained unchanged between tumor and non-tumor tissue (p=0.2510), suggesting a possible maintenance of adenosine production. An elevation in CD39 protein expression was also observed in the systemic environment (PBMCs) of patients with non-muscle-invasive (NMI) cancer (p=0.0353), indicating a possible compensatory mechanism. Regarding OS, the BC group showed increased levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA) (p=0,0253), a reduction in protein thiols (p=0.0372), and elevated vitamin C levels (p=0.0293). This suggests an attempted antioxidant response to the redox imbalance. Collectively, the data point to a compartmentalized deregulation, with distinct purinergic pathway and redox balance pathways in the systemic environment compared to the tumor microenvironment in BC patients. This reveals potential molecular and biochemical biomarkers that could aid in the prognosis and therapeutic stratification of the disease.