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Amyloid precursor protein: an Achilles’ heel to exploit in the treatment of prostate cancer
Alhadrami M, Gill E, Perks CM, Barker RM.. bioRxiv, 2026-09-22
Topic: Disease mechanisms in lab and animal studies
Background Epidemiological studies have highlighted an inverse association between cancer and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the mechanisms underlying this association are not currently understood. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its cleavage may represent one potential mechanism. Its importance has been heavily researched due to it giving rise to the production of amyloid-β, a pathological hallmark of AD. APP, however, has not been extensively investigated in cancer. Methods FFPE prostate tumour and adjacent benign tissue immunohistochemically stained for APP, androgen receptor and the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF1R). Normal prostate PNT2, androgen sensitive LNCaP and androgen insensitive PC3 in vitro were used to assess the effects of androgen, IGF-I and their inhibitors on APP and its cleavage; changes in protein abundance were measured by western blot; interactions between proteins using co-immunoprecipitation and effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell signalling of APP silenced cells using a BrdU proliferation assay, Muse Cell Analyser and by TMT proteomic analysis respectively. Results Data showed that APP was upregulated in prostate tumour tissue compared to adjacent benign. Furthermore, in cancer cell models, in contrast to normal prostate epithelial cells, it was observed that APP was critical for prostate cancer cell survival by interacting with androgen and IGF-I signalling pathways. Conclusions Drugs that target APP have already been developed for AD and our data suggests they offer an exciting opportunity for repurposing in the treatment of prostate cancer.
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APA 7th
Alhadrami, M., Gill, E., Perks, C. M., & Barker, R. M. (2026). Amyloid precursor protein: an Achilles’ heel to exploit in the treatment of prostate cancer. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.21.752657
Vancouver
Alhadrami M, Gill E, Perks CM, Barker RM. Amyloid precursor protein: an Achilles’ heel to exploit in the treatment of prostate cancer. bioRxiv. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.09.21.752657.
BibTeX
@article{alhadrami2026-c6d8e695,
author = {Alhadrami, M. and Gill, E. and Perks, C. M. and Barker, R. M.},
title = {{Amyloid precursor protein: an Achilles’ heel to exploit in the treatment of prostate cancer}},
journal = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.21.752657},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.21.752657}
}
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Key findings
- Results Data showed that APP was upregulated in prostate tumour tissue compared to adjacent benign.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 21 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 21 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (bioRxiv) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 13 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 21 out of 100. |
| Total | 21 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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