Isolation of an androgen-inducible novel lipocalin gene, Arg1, from androgen-dependent mouse mammary Shionogi carcinoma cells

Stimulation of cellular senescent processes, including secretory phenotypes and anti-oxidant responses, after androgen deprivation therapy in human prostate cancer

Endocrine resistance is a major problem in prostate cancer. Recent studies suggest that cellular plasticity plays a key role in therapy resistance. Yet little is known about the cellular changes of human prostate cancer after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). In this study, we investigated cellular senescence, senescence-associated secretory phenotypes (SASPs), and anti-oxidant responses. Hormone ablation upregulated senescence-associated (SA)-β-Gal activity in prostate glands, as well as the expressions of p27^KIP1 and p53, in a mouse castration model. In line with this, the expressions of p21^CIP1 and p27^KIP1 were significantly more upregulated in human non-pathological prostatic glands after ADT than in untreated specimens. In a study of SASP markers, the expressions of IL6 and IL8 were also more upregulated in human non-pathological prostatic glands after ADT than in untreated specimens. IL6, IL8, and MMP2 were expressed more strongly in human prostate cancer specimens resected after ADT than in untreated tumors. Of note, treatment with the anti-oxidant reagent NAC significantly suppressed SA-β-Gal activity in androgen-sensitive human prostate cancer LNCaP cells. In immunohistochemical analyses on anti-oxidant response genes, NRF2 and NQO1 were more upregulated after hormone ablation in human prostate gland and carcinoma specimens after ADT than in untreated specimens or in murine prostate glands after castration. Taken together, these findings suggest that ADT induces cellular senescence processes accompanied by secretory phenotypes and anti-oxidant responses in prostate. These cellular changes may be attractive targets for preventing endocrine resistance in prostate cancer.

The brominated flame retardant TBECH activates the zebrafish (Danio rerio) androgen receptor, alters gene transcription and causes developmental disturbances

Tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (TBECH) is a brominated flame retardant that has been shown to be a potent agonist to the human androgen receptor (AR). However, while it is present in the environment, it is not known if it interacts with AR from aquatic species. The present study was therefore aimed at improving our understanding of how TBECH affects aquatic animals using zebrafish as a model organism. In silico modeling demonstrated that TBECH diastereomers bind to the zebrafish androgen receptor (zAR) and in vitro and in vivo data showed that TBECH has androgenic properties. Deleterious effects of TBECH were studied on embryonic and juvenile zebrafish and qRT-PCR analysis in vitro and in vivo was performed to determine TBECH effects on gene regulation. TBECH was found to delay hatching at 1 μM and 10 μM doses while morphological abnormalities and juvenile mortality was observed at 10 μM. The qRT-PCR analysis showed alterations of multiple genes involved in chondrogenesis (cartilage development), metabolism and stress response. Thus, TBECH induces androgenic activity and has negative effects on zebrafish physiology and therefore its impact on the environment should be carefully monitored.

Secreted Wingless-interacting molecule (Swim) promotes long-range signaling by maintaining Wingless solubility

Lipid-modified Wnt/Wingless (Wg) proteins can signal to their target cells in a short- or long-range manner. How these hydrophobic proteins travel through the extracellular environment remains an outstanding question. Here, we report on a Wg binding protein, Secreted Wg-interacting molecule (Swim), that facilitates Wg diffusion through the extracellular matrix. Swim, a putative member of the Lipocalin family of extracellular transport proteins, binds to Wg with nanomolar affinity in a lipid-dependent manner. In quantitative signaling assays, Swim is sufficient to maintain the solubility and activity of purified Wg. In Drosophila, swim RNAi phenotypes resemble wg loss-of-function phenotypes in long-range signaling. We propose that Swim is a cofactor that promotes long-range Wg signaling in vivo by maintaining the solubility of Wg.

Lipocalin-7 is a matricellular regulator of angiogenesis

BACKGROUND

Matricellular proteins are extracellular regulators of cellular adhesion, signaling and performing a variety of physiological behaviors such as proliferation, migration and differentiation. Within vascular microenvironments, matricellular proteins exert both positive and negative regulatory cues to vascular endothelium. The relative balance of these matricellular cues is believed to be critical for vascular homeostasis, angiogenesis activation or angiogenesis resolution. However, our knowledge of matricellular proteins within vascular microenvironments and the mechanisms by which these proteins impact vascular function remain largely undefined. The matricellular protein lipocalin-7 (LCN7) is found throughout vascular microenvironments, and circumstantial evidence suggests that LCN7 may be an important regulator of angiogenesis. Therefore, we hypothesized that LCN7 may be an important regulator of vascular function.

METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of LCN7 overexpression, recombinant protein and gene knockdown in a series of in vitro and in vivo models of angiogenesis. We found that overexpression of LCN7 in MB114 and SVEC murine endothelial cell lines or administration of highly purified recombinant LCN7 protein increased endothelial cell invasion. Similarly, LCN7 increased angiogenic sprouting from quiescent endothelial cell monolayers and ex vivo aortic rings. Moreover, LCN7 increased endothelial cell sensitivity to TGF-β but did not affect sensitivity to other pro-angiogenic growth factors including bFGF and VEGF. Finally, morpholino based knockdown of LCN7 in zebrafish embryos specifically inhibited angiogenic sprouting but did not affect vasculogenesis within injected embryos.

CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE

No functional analysis has previously been performed to elucidate the function of LCN7 in vascular or other cellular processes. Collectively, our results show for the first time that LCN7 is an important pro-angiogenic matricellular protein of vascular microenvironments.

Transcriptomic analysis of an in vitro murine model of ovarian carcinoma: functional similarity to the human disease and identification of prospective tumoral markers and targets

Ovarian cancer is an aggressive disease of poor prognostic when detected at advanced stage. It is widely accepted that the ovarian surface epithelium plays a central role in disease etiology, but little is known about disease progression at the molecular level. To identify genes involved in ovarian tumorigenesis, we carried out a genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of six spontaneously transformed mouse ovarian surface epithelial (MOSE) cell lines, an in vitro model for human ovarian carcinoma. Loess normalization followed by statistical analysis with control of multiple testing resulted in 509 differentially expressed genes using an adjusted P-value < or = 0.05 as cut-off. The top 20 differentially expressed genes included 10 genes (Spp1, Cyp1b1, Btg1, Cfh, Mt1, Mt2, Igfbp5, Gstm1, Gstm2, and Esr1) implicated in various aspects of ovarian carcinomas, and other 3 genes (Gsto1, Lcn7, and Alcam) associated to breast cancer. Upon functional analysis, the majority of alterations affected genes involved in glutathione metabolism and MAPK signaling pathways. Interestingly, over 20% of the aberrantly expressed genes were related to extracellular components, suggestive of potential markers of disease progression. In addition, we identified the genes Pura, Cnn3, Arpc1b, Map4k4, Tgfb1i4, and Crsp2 correlated to in vivo tumorigenic parameters previously reported for these cells. Taken together, our findings support the utility of MOSE cells in studying ovarian cancer biology and as a source of novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

Transcriptional repression of fibroblast growth factor 8 by transforming growth factor-beta in androgen-dependent SC-3 cells

We here characterized the transcriptional profiles of TGF-beta-responsive genes using androgen-dependent mouse mammary carcinoma SC-3 cells. Compared with the testosterone-stimulated SC-3 cells, 165 genes were up-regulated at more than 5-fold, and 78 genes were down-regulated to less than one-third in response to TGF-beta. Of note, fgf8, an androgen-inducible growth factor essential to the androgen-dependent growth of SC-3 cells, was severely repressed in response to TGF-beta. Real-time PCR confirmed that the androgenic induction of the fgf8 transcripts is severely attenuated by TGF-beta. Although a considerable number of growth-suppressive genes were up-regulated in response to TGF-beta, the treatment with TGF-beta was insufficient to lead SC-3 cells to apoptosis within 24h by both the TUNEL method and the caspase 3 activity assay. Flow cytometric analysis rather indicated the cell-static effect of TGF-beta on the androgen-stimulated SC-3 cells. In addition, TGF-beta failed to suppress the FGF8-stimulated growth of SC-3 cells, suggesting that the repression of fgf8 is required for the TGF-beta-mediated growth inhibition in SC-3 cells. In a reporter assay, androgen-responsive promoter activity was suppressed by TGF-beta in SC-3 cells. Based on this finding, it is likely that some of the androgen-inducible genes are physiological targets of the TGF-beta-mediated transcriptional control, and therefore, it is strongly suggested that the repression of fgf8 might be directly or indirectly involved in this transcriptional control by TGF-beta.