TY - JOUR
T1 - Androgen receptor is up-regulated by a BLT2-linked pathway to contribute to prostate cancer progression
AU - Lee, Jin Wook
AU - Kim, Geun Young
AU - Kim, Jae Hong
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a General Researcher Support Project (2011-0004241) and a Diseases Network Research Program grant from the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, Republic of Korea (2011-0027753). In addition, this work was supported by a grant from the Korea Healthcare Technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (A101032).
PY - 2012/4/6
Y1 - 2012/4/6
N2 - The androgen receptor (AR) plays a central role in the development and progression of prostate cancer. AR expression is maintained throughout the progression of prostate cancer and is also associated with an aggressive, castration-resistant (CR) phenotype. Despite the critical roles of AR expression in prostate cancer progression, the exact signaling mechanism regulating AR expression remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that AR expression was increased by a low-affinity leukotriene B4 receptor (BLT2)-linked pathway. We found that BLT2 was overexpressed in AR-positive prostate cancer cells, such as LNCaP cells, and BLT2 inhibition, using an inhibitor or siRNA knockdown, clearly attenuated AR expression and triggered apoptosis in these cells. These results suggest a role for BLT2 in AR expression and the survival of AR-positive prostate cancer cells. Moreover, we found that the NADPH oxidase family protein, Nox4, lay downstream of BLT2 and mediated the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and subsequent NF-κB stimulation, thereby inducing AR expression. Taken together, our results demonstrate that BLT2 plays a critical role in AR expression via a Nox4-ROS-NF-κB-linked pathway, thereby mediating the survival of AR-positive prostate cancer cells. Our findings point to BLT2 as a key regulator of AR expression and will contribute to the development of novel therapies for AR-positive prostate cancers, including androgen-responsive and CR prostate cancers.
AB - The androgen receptor (AR) plays a central role in the development and progression of prostate cancer. AR expression is maintained throughout the progression of prostate cancer and is also associated with an aggressive, castration-resistant (CR) phenotype. Despite the critical roles of AR expression in prostate cancer progression, the exact signaling mechanism regulating AR expression remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that AR expression was increased by a low-affinity leukotriene B4 receptor (BLT2)-linked pathway. We found that BLT2 was overexpressed in AR-positive prostate cancer cells, such as LNCaP cells, and BLT2 inhibition, using an inhibitor or siRNA knockdown, clearly attenuated AR expression and triggered apoptosis in these cells. These results suggest a role for BLT2 in AR expression and the survival of AR-positive prostate cancer cells. Moreover, we found that the NADPH oxidase family protein, Nox4, lay downstream of BLT2 and mediated the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and subsequent NF-κB stimulation, thereby inducing AR expression. Taken together, our results demonstrate that BLT2 plays a critical role in AR expression via a Nox4-ROS-NF-κB-linked pathway, thereby mediating the survival of AR-positive prostate cancer cells. Our findings point to BLT2 as a key regulator of AR expression and will contribute to the development of novel therapies for AR-positive prostate cancers, including androgen-responsive and CR prostate cancers.
KW - AR
KW - BLT2
KW - Prostate cancer
KW - ROS
KW - Survival
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862793197&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bbrc.2012.03.012
DO - 10.1016/j.bbrc.2012.03.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 22426480
AN - SCOPUS:84862793197
SN - 0006-291X
VL - 420
SP - 428
EP - 433
JO - Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
JF - Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
IS - 2
ER -