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Dairo O, DePaula Oliveira L, Schaffer E, Vidotto T, Mendes AA, Lu J, Huynh SV, Hicks J, Sowalsky AG, De Marzo AM, Joshu CE, Hanratty B, Sfanos KS, Isaacs WB, Haffner MC, Lotan TL. FASN Gene Methylation is Associated with Fatty Acid Synthase Expression and Clinical-genomic Features of Prostate Cancer. CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 2024; 4:152-163. [PMID: 38112617 PMCID: PMC10795515 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-23-0248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Fatty acid synthase (FASN) catalyzes the synthesis of long-chain saturated fatty acids and is overexpressed during prostatic tumorigenesis, where it is the therapeutic target in several ongoing trials. However, the mechanism of FASN upregulation in prostate cancer remains unclear. Here, we examine FASN gene CpG methylation pattern by InfiniumEPIC profiling and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing across multiple racially diverse primary and metastatic prostate cancer cohorts, comparing with FASN protein expression as measured by digitally quantified IHC assay and reverse phase protein array analysis or FASN gene expression. We demonstrate that the FASN gene body is hypomethylated and overexpressed in primary prostate tumors compared with benign tissue, and FASN gene methylation is significantly inversely correlated with FASN protein or gene expression in both primary and metastatic prostate cancer. Primary prostate tumors with ERG gene rearrangement have increased FASN expression and we find evidence of FASN hypomethylation in this context. FASN expression is also significantly increased in prostate tumors from carriers of the germline HOXB13 G84E mutation compared with matched controls, consistent with a report that HOXB13 may contribute to epigenetic regulation of FASN in vitro. However, in contrast to previous studies, we find no significant association of FASN expression or methylation with self-identified race in models that include ERG status across two independent primary tumor cohorts. Taken together, these data support a potential epigenetic mechanism for FASN regulation in the prostate which may be relevant for selecting patients responsive to FASN inhibitors. SIGNIFICANCE Here, we leverage multiple independent primary and metastatic prostate cancer cohorts to demonstrate that FASN gene body methylation is highly inversely correlated with FASN gene and protein expression. This finding may shed light on epigenetic mechanisms of FASN regulation in prostate cancer and provides a potentially useful biomarker for selecting patients in future trials of FASN inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oluwademilade Dairo
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | | | - Ethan Schaffer
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Thiago Vidotto
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Adrianna A. Mendes
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Jiayun Lu
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Sophie Vo Huynh
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Jessica Hicks
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Adam G. Sowalsky
- Laboratory of Genitourinary Cancer Pathogenesis, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Angelo M. De Marzo
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Corrine E. Joshu
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Brian Hanratty
- Divisions of Human Biology and Clinical Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington
| | - Karen S. Sfanos
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - William B. Isaacs
- Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Michael C. Haffner
- Divisions of Human Biology and Clinical Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington
| | - Tamara L. Lotan
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
- Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
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Bowling GC, Rands MG, Dobi A, Eldhose B. Emerging Developments in ETS-Positive Prostate Cancer Therapy. Mol Cancer Ther 2023; 22:168-178. [PMID: 36511830 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-22-0527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Prostate cancer is a global health concern, which has a low survival rate in its advanced stages. Even though second-generation androgen receptor-axis inhibitors serve as the mainstay treatment options, utmost of the metastatic cases progress into castration-resistant prostate cancer after their initial treatment response with poor prognostic outcomes. Hence, there is a dire need to develop effective inhibitors that aim the causal oncogenes tangled in the prostate cancer initiation and progression. Molecular-targeted therapy against E-26 transformation-specific (ETS) transcription factors, particularly ETS-related gene, has gained wide attention as a potential treatment strategy. ETS rearrangements with the male hormone responsive transmembrane protease serine 2 promoter defines a significant number of prostate cancer cases and is responsible for cancer initiation and progression. Notably, inhibition of ETS activity has shown to reduce tumorigenesis, thus highlighting its potential as a clinical therapeutic target. In this review, we recapitulate the various targeted drug approaches, including small molecules, peptidomimetics, nucleic acids, and many others, aimed to suppress ETS activity. Several inhibitors have demonstrated ERG antagonist activity in prostate cancer, but further investigations into their molecular mechanisms and impacts on nontumor ETS-containing tissues is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gartrell C Bowling
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.,Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Mitchell G Rands
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Albert Dobi
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Binil Eldhose
- Center for Prostate Disease Research, Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland
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