Upregulation of GALNT7 in prostrate cancer modifies O-glycosylation and promotes tumour growth GALNT7, which belongs to a glycosyltransferase family, is exclusively characterised for glycosylating proteins that already carry GalNac moieties. It was identified as a single gene effector of cell surface glycosylation and glycocalyx height suggesting that GALNT7 mediated O-glycosylation might be responsible for cellular signalling and disease progression in prostate cancer. Researchers aimed to investigate the causal effect of upregulating GALNT7 in prostate cancer. To investigate their hypothesis, researcher conducted the study using multiple independent cohorts of patient tissue samples and animal testing. One of the studies was to investigate the level of GALNT7 in match urine and plasma samples collected from 27 men suspected with prostate cancer. GALNT7 plasma levels was monitored in 305 men diagnosed with either benign disease or prostate cancer. GALNT urine level was also monitored in 180 men with suspected prostate cancer taking part in INNOVATE clinical trial. Their finding showed that GALNT7 is upregulated in the urine and blood of men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Furthermore, study was conducted on mouse male NMRI mice (Charles River) and Male CD- 1 Nude mice (Charles River) to investigate the effect of GALNT7 on the biology of prostate cancer cell. Male NMRI mice were subjected to inoculation with CWR22RV1 tumour xenografts cells with GALNT7 knockdown by unilateral subcutaneous injection. Male CD-1 nude mice were inoculated with PC3 tumour cells with GALNT7 overexpression. All the mice subject in this study were inoculated at 8 weeks of age and these mice were randomised into control and treatment groups before cancer cell inoculation. The animals were weighted and the size of the tumour was monitored using calliper measurement three times a week by blinded researcher until the first animal met humane endpoint. Tumour with ulceration were excluded from the analysis. The result obtained found that knockdown of GALNT7 significantly supressed the growth of CWR22RV1 tumours whereas overexpression of GALNT significantly increased the growth of PC3 tumours. While thoroughly studying the ethical components of the study, I believe that researchers maintain ethical standards to investigate their queries. Data transparency offers readers access to the evidence or data that researchers used to support research claim (Moravcsik, 2014). The study's commitment to research integrity and transparency is evident. The method section provides comprehensive details, including specific reagents, protocols and references to previous study. Furthermore, datasets generated during and analysed during the study are readily made available. This transparency enhances the study's reproducibility and allows for independent verification. Additionally, animal experiments were conducted under regulatory approval and ethics consideration. The study's adherence to ethical standards in terms of animal usage, humane endpoints, and care protocol is evident. Randomisation and blinding techniques were used to minimize bias.
Therefore, the evidences observed in the paper led me to conclude that ethical concerns including responsible use of animals, the ethical treatment of human samples and maintaining research integrity were maintained by researchers. Reference: Moravcsik, A. (2014). Transparency: The Revolution in Qualitative Research. PS: Political Science &