Project description:Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and AR downstream signalings promote prostate cancer cell proliferation. To investigate the AR signaling, we performed RNA sequence analysis in AR positive prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP. In addition, we used hormone-refractory prostate cancer model cells, Long term androgen deprivation (LTAD) to explore the differences of androgen signaling in prostate cancer progression. We analyzed the role of PSF, CTBP1-AS and COBLL1 which we identified as regulators of androgen signaling.
Project description:Inhibition of androgen-receptor (AR)signaling is the foundation of therapeutic regimens for advanced prostate cancers. However, nearly all patientsdevelop resistance and some never respond. To identify genes that mediate resistance to androgen ablation therapy, we performed an open reading frame (ORF) expression screen of17,255 ORFs and found that the transcription factorCREB5robustly conferred resistance to androgen deprivation and AR inhibition by enzalutamide. CREB5 overexpressionincreased enzalutamide-resistance 45-fold, enhanced resistance of tumor xenografts. CREB5 expression was also essential for enzalutamide-resistance patient-derived organoids. In clinical mCRPC, CREB5is frequently amplified and itsoverexpression positively correlated with castration resistance gene signatures including those of MYC and cell cycle. Mechanistically, CREB5 directly interacted at AR binding sites andenhanced site-specific AR bindingin enzalutamide. This dysregulated expression of 393 AR target genes including MYC and CDK1.These observations identifyCREB5asadriver of enzalutamide-resistance in a subset of advancedprostate cancer.
Project description:We report the application of ChIP and RNA sequencing to identify the mechanism whereby stable overexpression of MED19 in androgen-dependent LNCaP cells promotes growth under conditions of androgen deprivation. We determined the MED19 and AR transcriptomes and cistromes in control and MED19 LNCaP cells. We also examined genome-wide H3K27 acetylation in both the absence and presence of androgens. We found that MED19 overexpression selectively alters AR occupancy, H3K27 acetylation, and gene expression. Under conditions of androgen deprivation, genes regulated by MED19 correspond to genes regulated by ELK1, a transcription factor that binds the AR N-terminus to induce select AR target gene expression and proliferation. This study provides important insight into the mechanisms of prostate cancer cell growth under low androgen, and underscores the importance of the MED19 in this process.
Project description:The molecular drivers for the AR signaling reprogramming in castration-resistant prostate cancer remain to be determined. In this study, we hypothesize that increased AR expression in conjunction with lower-level androgens, which is a typical condition in prostate cancer cells receiving androgen deprivation therapy, is a major driving force of the reprogramming. To test this, we used LNCaP model with inducible overexpression of AR to examine the acute effects of AR overexpression stimulated by low-dose DHT (0.1nM) on AR cistrome.
Project description:The molecular drivers for the AR signaling reprogramming in castration-resistant prostate cancer remain to be determined. In this study, we hypothesize that increased AR expression in conjunction with lower-level androgens, which is a typical condition in prostate cancer cells receiving androgen deprivation therapy, is a major driving force of the reprogramming. To test this, we used LNCaP model with inducible overexpression of AR to examine the acute effects of AR overexpression stimulated by DHT on AR transcriptome.
Project description:The androgen receptor (AR) is a key driver of prostate cancer (PC), even in the state of castration-resistant PC (CRPC), and frequently even after treatment with second-line hormonal therapies such as abiraterone and enzalutamide. The persistence of AR activity via both ligand-dependent and ligand-independent (including constitutively active AR splice variants) mechanisms highlights the unmet need for alternative approaches to block AR signaling in CRPC. We investigated the transcription factor GATA2 as a regulator of AR signaling and a novel therapeutic target in PC. We demonstrate that GATA2 directly promotes AR expression (both full-length and splice variant), resulting in a strong positive correlation between GATA2 and AR expression in PC (cell lines and patient specimens). Conversely, GATA2 expression is repressed by androgen and AR, suggesting a negative feedback regulatory loop that, upon androgen deprivation, derepresses GATA2 to contribute to AR overexpression in CRPC. Simultaneously, GATA2 is necessary for optimal transcriptional activity of AR (both full-length and splice variant). GATA2 co-localizes with AR and FOXA1 on chromatin to enhance recruitment of steroid receptor coactivators (SRCs) and formation of the transcriptional holocomplex. In agreement with these important functions, high GATA2 expression and transcriptional activity predicted for worse clinical outcome in PC patients. A GATA2 small molecule inhibitor suppressed the expression and transcriptional function of AR (both full-length and splice variant) and exerted potent anticancer activity against PC cell lines. We propose pharmacological inhibition of GATA2 as a “first-in-field” approach to target AR expression and function and improve outcomes in CRPC. LNCaP cells were transfected with control siRNA (3), GATA2 siRNA (3) or AR siRNA for 72 hours.
Project description:Androgens are required for prostate development, growth and physiology, by activating the androgen receptor (AR) upon activation by testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the AR undergoes conformational changes, dimerizes and translocates to the cell nucleus regulation important genes releted to cell survival. Understanding the mechanisms of androgen regulation in the prostate gland is important, because the prostate is affected by several different diseases, in particular prostate cancer (PCa). Several ways exist to treat prostate cancer and promote epithelial cell death. Treatments involving androgen manipulation include surgical castration (bilateral orchiectomy), antiandrogens (usually AR antagonists), or substances that inhibit androgen synthesis (5 alpha-reductase inhibitors, gonadotrophin-releasing hormone blockers). 17 beta-estradiol exerts anti-androgen effects by blocking the hypothalamic production of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and thereby inhibiting the production of testosterone by the testes , but also acts locally via interactions with either of the estrogen receptors found in the gland. It is known that the kinetics of apoptosis are different in the rat ventral prostate (VP) of castrated rats (Cas group) and in rats subjected to 17 beta-estradiol high dose (group E2) or their combination (group Cas+E2), with an evident additive effect in the latter situation (Garcia-Florez et al, 2005). The microarray approach was done to figure out what genes are expressed and how the cells of ventral prostate gland responses when the androgen is not available comparing three diferent androgen deprivation methods (sirurgical castration, high dose of 17-beta estradiol and both treatment combined). Forty-eight 21-day-old male Wistar rats were obtained from the Multidisciplinary Center for Biological Research (CEMIB), University of Campinas. The animals were kept under normal light conditions (12-h light:dark cycle) and received filtered tap water and Purina rodent chow ad libitum. On the 90th day after birth, the rats were divided in four groups (n=3) and assigned to different treatment groups. To cause androgen deprivation, we utilized three different procedures with different effects on epithelial cell apoptosis. Animals in the first group were castrated (Cas) by orchiectomy via scrotal incision under ketamine (150 mg/Kg body weight) and xylazin (10 mg/kg body weight) anesthesia. Animals in the second group received a 25 mg/Kg body weight dose of 17β-estradiol diluted in corn oil (E2 group). The third group received a combination of both treatments (Cas+E2 group) (combined orchiectomy and 17β-estradiol). In the control group (Ct; normal androgen and estrogen), the animals received only the vehicle. Three days after the treatments, the rats were killed by anesthetic overdose, and the ventral prostate was dissected out for the microarray and immunohistochemistry analyses.
Project description:The androgen receptor (AR) is a ligand-inducible transcription factor that mediates androgen action in target tissues. Upon ligand binding, the AR binds to thousands of genomic loci and activates a cell-type specific gene program. Prostate cancer growth and progression depend on androgen-induced AR signalling. Treatment of advanced prostate cancer through medical or surgical castration leads to initial response and durable remission, but resistance inevitably develops. In castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), AR activity remains critical for tumor growth despite androgen deprivation. While previous studies have focused on ligand-dependent AR signalling, in this study we explore AR function under the androgen-deprived conditions characteristic of CRPC. Our data demonstrate that the AR persistently occupies a distinct set of genomic loci after androgen deprivation in CRPC. These androgen-independent AR occupied regions have constitutively open chromatin structures that lack the canonical androgen response element and are independent of FoxA1, a transcription factor involved in ligand-dependent AR targeting. Many AR binding events occur at proximal promoters, which can act as enhancers to augment transcriptional activities of other promoters through DNA looping. We further show that androgen-independent AR binding directs a distinct gene expression program in CRPC, which is necessary for the growth of CRPC after androgen withdrawal. LNCaP, C4-2B, or 22RV1 cells were cultured in hormone-free media for 3 days and then treated with ethanol vehicle or DHT (10nM) for 4h or 16h prior to ChIP-seq or RNA-seq assays. For siRNA transfection, cells were transfected with AR siRNA or control siRNA for 3 days prior to RNA-seq assays.
Project description:Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and AR downstream signalings promote prostate cancer cell proliferation. We identified androgen-regulated genes, CTBP2, FOXP1 and RUNX1. These factors interact with AR ligand dependently. In order to investigate androgen-regulated gene functions in prostate cancer cells, we performed gene expression in AR-positive prostate cancer cell lines after siRNA treatment. We also treated cells with vehicle or androgen to analyzed the effects of these genes on AR function. Observation of androgen dependent gene expression changes after treatment with siRNAs targeting FOXP1, CTBP2 and FOXA1 with microarray.