Leppänen N, Kaljunen H, Takala E, Kaarijärvi R, Mäkinen PI, Ylä-Herttuala S, Paatero I, Paakinaho V, Ketola K. SIX2 promotes cell plasticity via Wnt/β-catenin signalling in androgen receptor independent prostate cancer.
Nucleic Acids Res 2024:gkae206. [PMID:
38554106 DOI:
10.1093/nar/gkae206]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024] Open
Abstract
The use of androgen receptor (AR) inhibitors in prostate cancer gives rise to increased cellular lineage plasticity resulting in resistance to AR-targeted therapies. In this study, we examined the chromatin landscape of AR-positive prostate cancer cells post-exposure to the AR inhibitor enzalutamide. We identified a novel regulator of cell plasticity, the homeobox transcription factor SIX2, whose motif is enriched in accessible chromatin regions after treatment. Depletion of SIX2 in androgen-independent PC-3 prostate cancer cells induced a switch from a stem-like to an epithelial state, resulting in reduced cancer-related properties such as proliferation, colony formation, and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. These effects were mediated through the downregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway and subsequent reduction of nuclear β-catenin. Collectively, our findings provide compelling evidence that the depletion of SIX2 may represent a promising strategy for overcoming the cell plasticity mechanisms driving antiandrogen resistance in prostate cancer.
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