基因沉默孤儿核受体ERR-alpha抑制前列腺癌细胞的体内转移

目的:研究孤儿核受体ERRα对前列腺癌细胞E-cadherin(上皮细胞钙粘蛋白)的表达水平和体内转移能力的影响。方法:利用慢病毒介导的sh RNA构建稳定下调ERRα表达的DU145-sh ERRα和PC-3M-sh ERRα前列腺癌细胞模型,同时用ERRα特异性抑制剂XCT790抑制其活性,并利用Western Blotting(免疫印迹)检测上皮细胞标志物E-cadherin的表达水平。将PC-3M-sh ERRα细胞和PC-3M-scramble对照细胞用荧光素酶标记后原位注射小鼠前列腺,8周以后通过体内成像系统检测原位瘤的形成及其体内转移情况。结果:基因沉默ERRα表达水平和用其特异性抑制剂XCT790处理DU145后,E-cadherin的表达水平明显降低。在PC-3M-sh ERRα细胞中,E-cadherin的表达水平明显低于对照组,同时由其构建的6只原位前列腺癌小鼠模型中没有发生转移,而由对照组细胞构建的7只原位前列腺癌小鼠模型中有4只发生了转移。结论:在前列腺癌细胞中下调ERRα的表达水平抑制其E-cadherin的表达和体内转移能力。     

TRF1、TRF2和POT1基因mRNA在前列腺癌组织中的表达

目的:探究端粒重复序列结合蛋白质1(TRF1)、TRF2和端粒保护蛋白(POT1)基因mRNA在前列腺癌(PCa)组织中的表达。方法:收集46例PCa患者肿瘤中心组织(中心组织组)和35例前列腺增生(BPH)患者BPH组织(BPH组织组),提取总RNA,逆转录成cDNA,采用定量PCR测定TRF1、TRF2和POT1在中心组织组和BPH组织基因mRNA的表达,采用基因mRNA所得CT值与β-actin mRNA所得CT值之差(△CT值)表示,并进行差异性分析。结果:中心组织组TRF1的△CT值高于BPH组织组,差异有统计学意义(Z=-3.469,P=0.001);TRF2的△CT值分别为8.49(5.75,10.21)和8.16(6.28,9.75),差异无统计学意义(Z=-1.719,P=0.086);中心组织组POT1的△CT值高于BPH组织组,差异有统计学意义(t=-18.48,P=0.000)。结论:TRF1和POT1在PCa肿瘤组织中的表达升高,说明TRF1和POT1的高表达可能与PCa的发生和发展有关,但TRF2在PCa肿瘤中心组织和BPH组织中的表达没有表现出差异,有待进一步研究。     

区域效应－一个前列腺癌早期诊断的新思路

目前临床上有许多怀疑前列腺癌但穿刺阴性的病例,为了避免漏诊,多数患者必须接受重复穿刺。尽管部分患者经重复穿刺确诊为前列腺癌,而更多患者经过长期随访以及反复穿刺最终确诊为良性病变。近期研究证实,癌灶附近的组织学表现正常的组织中也可发生与癌灶相似的分子改变。因此,我们认为在前列腺癌的发生过程中存在区域效应。在这一理论指导下,选择适当的可反映前列腺癌区域效应的标记物,在穿刺阴性的标本中检出与癌灶相似的分子改变,就可以帮助临床医生在常规病理诊断之前,提前预测前列腺癌的发生。如果能够找到这样的标记物,并在大规模的诊断试验中证实其可行性,那么就可以极大地改善前列腺癌诊断的现状。     

Prostate cancer stem-like cells proliferate slowly and resist etoposide-induced cytotoxicity via enhancing DNA damage response

Despite the development of chemoresistance as a major concern in prostate cancer therapy, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this report, we demonstrate that DU145-derived prostate cancer stem cells (PCSCs) progress slowly with more cells accumulating in the G1 phase in comparison to DU145 non-PCSCs. Consistent with the important role of the AKT pathway in promoting G1 progression, DU145 PCSCs were less sensitive to growth factor-induced activation of AKT in comparison to non-PCSCs. In response to etoposide (one of the most commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs), DU145 PCSCs survived significantly better than non-PCSCs. In addition to etoposide, PCSCs demonstrated increased resistance to docetaxel, a taxane drug that is commonly used to treat castration-resistant prostate cancer. Etoposide produced elevated levels of γH2AX and triggered a robust G2/M arrest along with a coordinated reduction of the G1 population in PCSCs compared to non-PCSCs, suggesting that elevated γH2AX plays a role in the resistance of PCSCs to etoposide-induced cytotoxicity. We have generated xenograft tumors from DU145 PCSCs and non-PCSCs. Consistent with the knowledge that PCSCs produce xenograft tumors with more advanced features, we were able to demonstrate that PCSC-derived xenograft tumors displayed higher levels of γH2AX and p-CHK1 compared to non-PCSC-produced xenograft tumors. Collectively, our research suggests that the elevation of DNA damage response contributes to PCSC-associated resistance to genotoxic reagents.     

Androgen-independent proliferation of LNCaP prostate cancer cells infected by xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) is a novel gammaretrovirus that was originally isolated from human prostate cancer. It is now believed that XMRV is not the etiologic agent of prostate cancer. An analysis of murine leukemia virus (MLV) infection in various human cell lines revealed that prostate cancer cell lines are preferentially infected by XMRV, and this suggested that XMRV infection may confer some sort of growth advantage to prostate cancer cell lines. To examine this hypothesis, androgen-dependent LNCaP cells were infected with XMRV and tested for changes in certain cell growth properties. We found that XMRV-infected LNCaP cells can proliferate in the absence of the androgen dihydrotestosterone. Moreover, androgen receptor expression is significantly reduced in XMRV-infected LNCaP cells. Such alterations were not observed in uninfected and amphotropic MLV-infected LNCaP cells. This finding explains why prostate cancer cell lines are preferentially infected with XMRV.     

EpCAM expression in the prostate cancer makes the difference in the response to growth factors

Introduction

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is expressed in tumors with an epithelial cell of origin, in a heterogeneous manner. Prostate cancer stem-like cells highly express EpCAM. However, little is known about how EpCAM is involved in the ability of cells to adapt to micro-environmental changes in available growth factors, which is one of the essential biological phenotypes of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs).

Methods

EpCAM-high and EpCAM-low subpopulations of cells were established from the prostate cancer cell line PC-3. Signal transductions in response to serum starvation, and on the exposure to EGF ligand or the specific inhibitor were analyzed in terms. Furthermore, we analyzed the expression level of amino acid transporters which contribute to the activation of mTOR signal between the two subgroups.

Results

EpCAM-high and EpCAM-low PC-3 subpopulations showed markedly different responses to serum starvation. EpCAM expression was positively correlated with activation of the mTOR and epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathways. Furthermore, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was gradually de-activated in EpCAM-low PC-3 cells in the absence of serum.

Conclusions

EpCAM regulates the AMPK signaling pathway, essential for the response to growth factors characterized by EGF. LAT1, the amino acid transporter stabilized at the cellular membrane by EpCAM, is likely to be responsible for the difference in the susceptibility to EGF between EpCAM-high and EpCAM-low PC-3 cells.     

CXCR4 and PTEN are involved in the anti-metastatic regulation of anethole in DU145 prostate cancer cells

Anethole has been known to have chemopreventive activities as a suppressor of the incidence and multiplicity of both invasive and noninvasive carcinomas. The goal of this study was to understand the anti-metastatic effect of anethole through C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4)/tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) axis in DU145 prostate cancer cells. Anethole reduced both of the RNA level and the protein level of CXCR4 in a dose-dependent manner without cytotoxicity. Anethole also reduced the expression of CXCR4 and prolonged the expression of PTEN in DU145 prostate cancers. The phosphorylation of AKT and phosphatidylinositol-3kinase (PI3K) were decreased with anethole. The inhibition metastatic effect of anethole was arisen from down-regulating CXCR4 and up-regulating PTEN. Morphologically, anethole significantly inhibited the invasion of DU145 cell and down-regulated the activities of matrix-metalloproteinase (MMPs) in a dose-dependent manner. However, anethole didnot decrease the phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT while PTEN was silenced. Furthermore, the CXCR4 inhibition of anethole was not caused to proteasomal or lysosomal of CXCR4.     

Sex specific retinoic acid signaling is required for the initiation of urogenital sinus bud development

The mammalian urogenital sinus (UGS) develops in a sex specific manner, giving rise to the prostate in the male and the sinus vagina in the embryonic female. Androgens, produced by the embryonic testis, have been shown to be crucial to this process. In this study we show that retinoic acid signaling is required for the initial stages of bud development from the male UGS. Enzymes involved in retinoic acid synthesis are expressed in the UGS mesenchyme in a sex specific manner and addition of ligand to female tissue is able to induce prostate-like bud formation in the absence of androgens, albeit at reduced potency. Functional studies in mouse organ cultures that faithfully reproduce the initiation of prostate development indicate that one of the roles of retinoic acid signaling in the male is to inhibit the expression of Inhba, which encodes the βA subunit of Activin, in the UGS mesenchyme. Through in vivo genetic analysis and culture studies we show that inhibition of Activin signaling in the female UGS leads to a similar phenotype to that of retinoic acid treatment, namely bud formation in the absence of androgens. Our data also reveals that both androgens and retinoic acid have extra independent roles to that of repressing Activin signaling in the development of the prostate during fetal stages. This study identifies a novel role for retinoic acid as a mesenchymal factor that acts together with androgens to determine the position and initiation of bud development in the male UGS epithelia.