Abstract 4957: Keratin 13 drives the dissemination of bone and brain metastases of human prostate and breast cancer cells

Introduction and Objective: Bone and brain metastases are prevalent in human prostate and breast cancer patients. Keratin 13 (KRT13), a member of the intermediate filament proteins and an epithelial stem cell differentiation marker, induces cancer cell migration and progression toward increased malignant state. The objectives of this study are: 1) to determine KRT13 expression in human prostate and breast cancer and its clinical correlation; 2) to determine the functional cell signaling role of KRT13 in prostate and breast cancer cells using gene transfer technology. Methods and Results: We evaluated KRT13 protein expression in primary prostate cancer tissues from 44 cases with well-documented overall survival by quantitative quantum dot immuno-labelling. We found that KRT13 expression in primary prostate cancer correlated with patient overall survival and bone metastasis (p