FABP5 can substitute for androgen receptor in malignant progression of prostate cancer cells

Molecular Mechanisms of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Progression

Prostate cancer is a global health issue and one of the most common reasons for cancer-related mortality. This research aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Differential gene expression was analyzed by contrasting the PNT2 prostate epithelial cell line and the PC3M CRPC cell line. RNA sequencing was performed on three biological replicates of each cell type, and 1,000 differentially expressed genes were identified with a fold change ≥1 and a p<0.05. A heatmap was generated to visualize the gene expression profiles, and the top 10 significantly altered genes were identified. Functional enrichment analysis, including Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis, was conducted to map the biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions associated with the differentially expressed genes. Furthermore, weighted gene co-expression network analysis was utilized to identify co-expression modules and significant genes, thereby highlighting the top 10 most significant differentially expressed genes in significant pathways. The findings indicate substantial molecular alterations associated with the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer, with major pathways including metabolic deregulation pathways and cell cycle regulation. The identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and pathways provide significant insights into disease progression and potential therapeutic targets. These findings contribute to the understanding of prostate cancer at the molecular level and can be used to identify new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. However, further validation is required to determine the clinical significance of these targets in the treatment of CRPC.

Targeting lipid reprogramming in the tumor microenvironment by traditional Chinese medicines as a potential cancer treatment

In the last ten years, there has been a notable rise in the study of metabolic abnormalities in cancer cells. However, compared to glucose or glutamine metabolism, less attention has been paid to the importance of lipid metabolism in tumorigenesis. Recent developments in lipidomics technologies have allowed for detailed analysis of lipid profiles within cancer cells and other cellular players present within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and its bioactive components have a long history of use in cancer treatments and are also being studied for their potential role in regulating metabolic reprogramming within TME. This review focuses on four core abnormalities altered by lipid reprogramming in cancer cells: de novo synthesis and exogenous uptake of fatty acids (FAs), upregulated fatty acid oxidation (FAO), cholesterol accumulation, which offer benefits for tumor growth and metastasis. The review also discusses how altered lipid metabolism impacts infiltrating immune cell function and phenotype as these interactions between cancer-stromal become more pronounced during tumor progression. Finally, recent literature is highlighted regarding how cancer cells can be metabolically reprogrammed by specific Chinese herbal components with potential therapeutic benefits related to lipid metabolic and signaling pathways.

Experimental treatment efficacy of dmrFABP5 on prostate cancer singly or in combination with drugs in use

Enzalutamide is a drug used to treat prostate cancer (PC) and docetaxel is a drug for chemotherapeutic treatment of diverse cancer types, including PC. The effectiveness of these drugs in treating castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is poor and therefore CRPC is still largely incurable. However, the bio-inhibitor of fatty acid-binding protein 5 (FABP5), dmrFABP5, which is a mutant form of FABP5 incapable of binding to fatty acids, has been shown recently to be able to suppress the tumorigenicity and metastasis of cultured CRPC cells. The present study investigated the possible synergistic effect of dmrFABP5 combined with either enzalutamide or docetaxel on suppressing the tumorigenic properties of PC cells, including cell viability, migration, invasion and colony proliferation in soft agar. A highly significant synergistic inhibitory effect on these properties was observed when dmrFABP5 was used in combination with enzalutamide on androgen-responsive PC 22RV1 cells. Moreover, a highly significant synergistic inhibitory effect was also observed when dmrFABP5 was combined with docetaxel, and added to 22RV1 cells and to the highly malignant, androgen-receptor (AR)-negative Du145 cells. DmrFABP5 alone failed to produce any suppressive effect when added to the FABP5-negative cell line LNCaP, although enzalutamide could significantly suppress LNCaP cells when used as a single agent. These synergistic inhibitory effects of dmrFABP5 were produced by interrupting the FABP5-related signal transduction pathway in PC cells. Thus, dmrFABP5 appears to be not only a potential single therapeutic agent, but it may also be used in combination with existing drugs to suppress both AR-positive and AR-negative PC.