Bladder transitional cell carcinoma: a study of pos-transcriptional modifications and RNA binding proteins

Cancer is characterized as a serious public health problem. Particularly, bladder cancer has a high cost to health system, especially given the need for routine clinical monitoring (urine cytology and cystoscopy) and high recurrence rate. Due to the complexity of biological systems, little is known about the molecular mechanisms responsible for urothelial carcinomas. The literature shows that in cancer there is involvement of a complex network of pathways affecting a large number of cellular processes such as apoptosis, proliferation, invasion, growth, etc. In this context, we highlight RNA-binding proteins (RPBs), post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression which are involved in splicing, polyadenylation, stability, degradation and transport of RNAs and translation. To investigate the impact of RPBs and RNA processing events in the development of different degrees of bladder tumor, this study proposes to evaluate biopsies from patients with bladder cancer. We expect results might illuminate new mechanisms of tumorigenesis and provide information relevant to the identification of biomarkers for early prognosis and treatment of urothelial carcinomas.