Homo sapiens Raw sequence reads. Homo sapiens

The key objective is to define the miRNA alterations associated with progression of advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) to androgen-independent neuroendocrine state. Lineage switch is associated with significant alterations to the miRNAs, that in turn, drives switch in PCa gene expression patterns towards NE states. We tested our hypothesis by assessing miRNA alterations in the exosomes from patient serum that are associated with transition from CRPC with adenocarcinoma features (CRPC-Adeno) to that with NE features (CRPC-NE) by performing small RNA-next generation sequencing in deidentified patient samples. Exosomes may serve as an extracellular secondary mediators that will in turn drive this progression by acting on adjacent adenocarcinomas cells.