Project description:Prostate cancer is the second most occurring cancer in men worldwide, and with the advances made with screening for prostate-specific antigen, it has been prone to early diagnosis and over-treatment. To better understand the mechanisms of tumorigenesis and possible treatment responses, we developed a mathematical model of prostate cancer which considers the major signalling pathways known to be deregulated. The model includes pathways such as androgen receptor, MAPK, Wnt, NFkB, PI3K/AKT, MAPK, mTOR, SHH, the cell cycle, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), apoptosis and DNA damage pathways. The final model accounts for 133 nodes and 449 edges. We applied a methodology to personalise this Boolean model to molecular data to reflect the heterogeneity and specific response to perturbations of cancer patients, using TCGA and GDSC datasets.
Project description:Ornithine decarboxylase antizyme 1 mediates DNA demethylation. Using a human oral cancer cell line, UM1, genes induiced by DNA demethylation were screened. To verify the methylation status of those induced genes, the gene expression profile was compared with that of 5-Aza-2â-deoxycytidine treated sample. Preparation of samples, hybridization process and data analysis were performed according to the manufacture's protocol (BD Biosciences). To verify the genes induced by ornithine decarboxylase antizyme via DNA demethylation, 5-Aza-2â-deoxycytidine treatment was carried out as a parallel experiment.
Project description:In castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), clinical response to androgen receptor (AR) antagonists is limited mainly due to AR-variants expression and restored AR signaling. The metabolite spermine is most abundant in prostate and it decreases as prostate cancer progresses, but its functions remain poorly understood. Here, we show spermine inhibits full-length androgen receptor (AR-FL) and androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7) signaling and suppresses CRPC cell proliferation by directly binding and inhibiting protein arginine methyltransferase PRMT1. Spermine reduces H4R3me2a modification at the AR locus and suppresses AR binding as well as H3K27ac modification levels at AR target genes. Spermine supplementation restrains CRPC growth in vivo. PRMT1 inhibition also suppresses AR-FL and AR-V7 signaling and reduces CRPC growth. Collectively, we demonstrate spermine as an anticancer metabolite by inhibiting PRMT1 to transcriptionally inhibit AR-FL and AR-V7 signaling in CRPC, and we indicate spermine and PRMT1 inhibition as powerful strategies overcoming limitations of current AR-based therapies in CRPC.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE30622: Dual Role of FoxA1 in Androgen Receptor Binding to Chromatin, Androgen Signaling and Prostate Cancer [Expression Array] GSE30623: Dual Role of FoxA1 in Androgen Receptor Binding to Chromatin, Androgen Signaling and Prostate Cancer [ChIP_seq, DHS_seq] Refer to individual Series
Project description:Recurrent point mutations in SPOP define a distinct molecular subclass of prostate cancer. Here, we describe the first mouse model showing that mutant SPOP drives prostate tumorigenesis in vivo. Conditional expression of mutant SPOP in the prostate dramatically altered phenotypes in the setting of Pten loss, with early neoplastic lesions (high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia) with striking nuclear atypia, and invasive poorly differentiated carcinoma. In mouse prostate organoids, mutant SPOP drove increased proliferation and a transcriptional signature consistent with human prostate cancer. Using these models and human prostate cancer samples, we show that SPOP mutation activates both PI3K/mTOR and androgen receptor (AR) signaling, effectively uncoupling the normal negative feedback between these two pathways. Associated RNA-seq data deposited in GEO: GSE94839.
Project description:The aberrant expression of androgen receptor (AR)-dependent transcriptional programs is a defining pathology of the development and progression of prostate cancers. Transcriptional cofactors that bind AR are critical determinants of prostate tumorigenesis. To gain a deeper understanding of the proteins linked to AR-dependent gene transcription, we performed a DNAaffinity chromatography-based proteomic screen designed to identify proteins involved in ARmediated gene transcription in prostate tumor cells.
Project description:Castration-resistant prostate cancer is a lethal disease. The cell type(s) that survive androgen-deprivation remain poorly described despite global efforts to understand the various mechanisms of therapy resistance. We recently identified in wild type mouse prostates a rare population of luminal progenitor cells that we called LSCmed according to their FACS profile (Lin?/Sca-1+/CD49fmed). Here we investigated the prevalence and castration resistance of LSCmed in various mouse models of prostate tumorigenesis. In intact mice, we show that LSCmed prevalence remains low (5-10% of epithelial cells) when prostatic androgen receptor signaling unaltered (malignant Hi-Myc mice) but significantly increases in models exhibiting reduced prostatic androgen receptor signaling, rising up to 30% in premalignant tumors (Pb-PRL mice) and to >80% in castration-resistant prostate tumors driven by Pten loss (Ptenpc-/- mice). LSCmed tolerance to androgen deprivation was demonstrated by their persistence (Ptenpc-/-) or further enrichment (Pb-PRL) 2-3 weeks after castration as evidenced by FACS analysis. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that LSCmed represent a unique cell entity as their gene-expression profile is different from luminal and basal/stem cells, but shares markers of each. Their intrinsic androgen signaling is markedly decreased, which explains why LSCmed tolerate androgen-deprivation. This also enlightens why Ptenpc-/- tumors are castration-resistant since LSCmed represent the most prevalent cell type in this model. We validated CK4 as a specific marker for LSCmed on sorted cells and prostate tissues by immunostaining, allowing for the detection of LSCmed in various mouse prostate specimens. In castrated Ptenpc-/- prostates, BrdU staining revealed massive proliferation of CK4+ cells, further demonstrating their key role in castration-resistant prostate cancer progression. In all, this study identifies LSCmed as a probable source of prostate cancer relapse after androgen deprivation and as a new therapeutic target for the prevention of castrate-resistant prostate cancer.