Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0376358 (prostate cancer)
 59,338 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Prostate cancer will be diagnosed in about 179,300 men in the US in 1999 alone. Some 37,000 individuals die of this disease annually. Prostate cancer is characterized by a substantial racial/ethnic variation in risk: highest in African-American men, lowest in Asian men and intermediate in Caucasian and Latino men. We set out to investigate as our central hypothesis that genetic variants of genes involved in androgen metabolism by themselves and in combination significantly contribute to prostate cancer progression and its racial/ethnic variation. Specifically, we examined the hypothesis that DNA sequence (allelic) variations in the type II (or prostatic) steroid 5alpha-reductase (SRD5A2) gene contribute substantially to the risk and progression of prostate cancer particularly across racial/ethnic lines. The "candidate gene", SRD5A2, was chosen because the reaction product [i.e. dihydrotestosterone (DHT)] of the enzyme encoded by this gene modulates directly cell division in the prostate. DHT binds to the androgen receptor (AR) and the DHT-AR complex leads to the transactivation of a variety of genes which ultimately modulates cell division in the prostate. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that variation in DHT levels play an important role in risk of prostate cancer. Thus, steroid 5alpha-reductase activity encoded by SRD5A2 variant alleles may be important in regulating intraprostatic DHT steady state levels by controlling its biosynthesis. A second candidate gene, the type II 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD3B2) gene, encodes the enzyme that initiates the metabolic inactivation of testosterone (T) to DHT. We have identified allelic variants in this gene as well. Here I review our strategy for identifying candidate genes for prostate cancer, a multifactorial disease. I summarize the significant findings, particularly of allelic variants in the HSD3B2 and SRD5A2 genes and discuss how they by themselves, in combination and through interactions with the environment may play a role in prostate cancer predisposition and its progression. Our approach, a multidisciplinary genomic genetic (GEN GEN) attack on the problem, may be useful in the analysis of other complex phenotypes as well.
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PMID:GEN GEN: the genomic genetic analysis of androgen-metabolic genes and prostate cancer as a paradigm for the dissection of complex phenotypes. 1041 59

The 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase (3beta-HSD) isoenzymes catalyze an essential step in the formation of all classes of active steroid hormones. In humans there are two 3beta-HSD isoenzymes, the type 1 gene being predominantly expressed in the placenta and peripheral tissues, whereas the type 2 gene is the predominant 3beta-HSD expressed in the adrenal glands and gonads. We have recently showed that interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 induce 3beta-HSD type 1 gene expression in human breast cancer cell lines as well as in normal human mammary epithelial cells. The present study was designed to investigate whether such a cytokine-induced 3beta-HSD type 1 expression would also be observed in cell types derived from other peripheral sex steroid target tissues. To gain further knowledge about the molecular mechanism of IL-4 action, we have studied whether the induction of 3beta-HSD type 1 expression in IL-4-responsive cell types would always be associated with the activation of Stat6, a member of the Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STAT) gene family. Stat6 is recognized as the principal transcription factor mediating the effects of IL-4. In normal human prostate epithelial cells (PrEC), no 3beta-HSD activity was detectable under basal culture conditions, while exposure to IL-4 or IL-13 caused a potent induction of this activity. This effect results from a rapid induction of 3beta-HSD type 1 messenger RNA levels as determined by Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses. Furthermore, IL-4 and IL-13 also increased 3beta-HSD type 1 gene expression in human HaCaT immortalized keratinocytes, ME-180 cervix cancer cells, HT-29 colon cancer cells as well as in BT-20 and ZR-75-1 breast cancer cells. However, IL-4 and IL-13 failed to modulate the 3beta-HSD type 1 expression in human LnCAP and PC-3 prostate cancer cells, Caco-2 colon cancer cells as well as in JAR and JEG-3 choriocarcinoma cell lines. The DNA-binding activity of Stat6 was activated after a 30-min exposure to IL-4 in PrEC and in all the cell types where IL-4 induced 3beta-HSD expression, but not in those that failed to respond to IL-4. Our data therefore suggest that IL-4 and IL-13 may play a role in the biosynthesis of active sex steroids from the inactive adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone, not only in breast cells but also in various cell types derived from peripheral target tissues, such as normal human prostate epithelial cells, immortalized keratinocytes, as well as colon and cervix cancer cell lines. Our data also demonstrates that the stimulatory effect of IL-4 was always associated with the activation of Stat6, thus supporting the essential role of Stat6 in this induction of 3beta-HSD type 1 gene expression.
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PMID:Induction of 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase type 1 expression by interleukin-4 in human normal prostate epithelial cells, immortalized keratinocytes, colon, and cervix cancer cell lines. 1049 13

Prostate cancer is dependent on circulating testosterone in its early stages and is treatable with radiation and surgery. However, recurrent prostate tumors advance to an androgen-independent state in which they progress in the absence of circulating testosterone, leading to metastasis and death. During the development of androgen independence, prostate cancer cells are known to increase intracellular testosterone synthesis, which maintains cancer cell growth in the absence of significant amounts of circulating testosterone. Overexpression of the androgen receptor (AR) occurs in androgen-independent prostate cancer and has been proposed as another mechanism promoting the development of androgen independence. The LNCaP-AR cell line is engineered to overexpress AR but is otherwise similar to the widely studied LNCaP cell line. We have previously shown that pomegranate extracts inhibit both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cell growth. In this study, we examined the effects of pomegranate polyphenols, ellagitannin-rich extract and whole juice extract on the expression of genes for key androgen-synthesizing enzymes and the AR. We measured expression of the HSD3B2 (3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2), AKR1C3 (aldo-keto reductase family 1 member C3) and SRD5A1 (steroid 5alpha reductase type 1) genes for the respective androgen-synthesizing enzymes in LNCaP, LNCaP-AR and DU-145 human prostate cancer cells. A twofold suppression of gene expression was considered statistically significant. Pomegranate polyphenols inhibited gene expression and AR most consistently in the LNCaP-AR cell line (P=.05). Therefore, inhibition by pomegranate polyphenols of gene expression involved in androgen-synthesizing enzymes and the AR may be of particular importance in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells and the subset of human prostate cancers where AR is up-regulated.
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PMID:Pomegranate polyphenols down-regulate expression of androgen-synthesizing genes in human prostate cancer cells overexpressing the androgen receptor. 1847 1

The proliferation and differentiation of normal prostate epithelial cells depends upon the action of androgens produced by the testis. Prostate cancers retain the ability to respond to androgens in the initial stages of cancer development, but progressively become independent of exogenous androgens in advanced stages of the disease while maintaining the expression of functional androgen receptor (AR). In the present study, we have determined the potential of prostate cancer cells to synthesize androgens from cholesterol which may be involved in intracrine regulation of AR in advanced stages of the disease. Established androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines, PC3 and DU145 cells, expressed mRNA and proteins for scavenger receptor type B1 (SRB1), steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein, cytochrome P450 cholesterol side chain cleavage (P450scc), 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD) and other enzymes involved in androgen biosynthesis. Expression of all these proteins and enzymes was significantly higher in the androgen-independent derivative of LNCaP prostate cancer cells (C81) than in the androgen-dependent cell line (C33). In serum-free cultures, the androgen-independent C81 cells secreted approximately 5-fold higher testosterone than C33 cells as determined in the conditioned media by immunoassays. These cells could also directly convert radioactive cholesterol into testosterone which was identified by thin layer chromatography. These results for the first time show that prostate cancer cells in advanced stages of the disease could synthesize androgens from cholesterol and hence are not dependent upon testicular and/or adrenal androgens.
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PMID:Androgen-independent prostate cancer cells acquire the complete steroidogenic potential of synthesizing testosterone from cholesterol. 1878 95

Androgen deprivation is commonly used in the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer. The (-)-gossypol enantiomer has been demonstrated as an effective inhibitor of Bcl-2 in the treatment of prostate cancer. However, the mechanism of gossypol as an inhibitor of androgen biosynthesis is not clear. The present study compared (+)- and (-)-gossypols in the inhibition of 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD) and 17beta-HSD isoform 3 (17beta-HSD3) in human and rat testes. Gossypol enantiomers were more potent inhibitors of rat 3beta-HSD with IC(50)s of approximately 0.2microM compared to 3-5microM in human testes. However, human 17beta-HSD3 was more sensitive to inhibition by gossypol enantiomers, with IC(50)s of 0.36+/-0.09 and 1.13+/-0.12 for (-)- and (+)-gossypols, respectively, compared to 3.43+/-0.46 and 10.93+/-2.27 in rat testes. There were species- and enantiomer-specific differences in the sensitivity of the inhibition of 17beta-HSD3. Gossypol enantiomers competitively inhibited both 3beta-HSD and 17beta-HSD3 by competing for the cofactor binding sites of these enzymes. Gossypol enantiomers, fed orally to rats (20mg/kg), inhibited 3beta-HSD but not 17beta-HSD3. This finding was consistent with the in vitro data, in which rat 3beta-HSD was more sensitive to gossypol inhibition than rat 17beta-HSD3. As the reverse was true for the human enzymes, gossypol might be useful for treating metastatic prostate cancer.
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PMID:The (+)- and (-)-gossypols potently inhibit both 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3 in human and rat testes. 1942 56

One of the mechanisms through which advanced prostate cancer (PCa) usually relapses after androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the adaptation to residual androgens in PCa tissue. It has been observed that androgen biosynthesis in PCa tissue plays an important role in this adaptation. In the present study, we investigated how stromal cells affect adrenal androgen dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) metabolism in androgen-sensitive PCa LNCaP cells. DHEA alone had little effect on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) promoter activity and the proliferation of LNCaP cells. However, the addition of prostate stromal cells or PCa-derived stromal cells (PCaSC) increased DHEA-induced PSA promoter activity via androgen receptor activation in the LNCaP cells. Moreover, PCaSC stimulated the proliferation of LNCaP cells under physiological concentrations of DHEA. Biosynthesis of testosterone or dihydrotestosterone from DHEA in stromal cells and LNCaP cells was involved in this stimulation of LNCaP cell proliferation. Androgen biosynthesis from DHEA depended upon the activity of various steroidogenic enzymes present in stromal cells. Finally, the dual 5alpha-reductase inhibitor dutasteride appears to function not only as a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor but also as a 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase inhibitor in LNCaP cells. Taken together, this coculture assay system provides new insights of coordinate androgen biosynthesis under the microenvironment of PCa cells before and after ADT, and offers a model system for the identification of important steroidogenic enzymes involved in PCa progression and for the development of the corresponding inhibitors of androgen biosynthesis.
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PMID:Prostate cancer stromal cells and LNCaP cells coordinately activate the androgen receptor through synthesis of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone from dehydroepiandrosterone. 1960 12

Prostate cancer usually responds to androgen deprivation therapy, although the response in metastatic disease is almost always transient and tumors eventually progress as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). CRPC continues to be driven by testosterone or dihydrotestosterone from intratumoral metabolism of 19-carbon adrenal steroids from circulation, and/or de novo intratumoral steroidogenesis. Both mechanisms require 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3betaHSD) metabolism of Delta(5)-steroids, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and Delta(5)-androstenediol (A5diol), to testosterone. In contrast, reports that DHEA and A5diol directly activate the androgen receptor (AR) suggest that 3betaHSD metabolism is not required and that 3betaHSD inhibitors would be ineffective in the treatment of CRPC. We hypothesized that activation of AR in prostate cancer by DHEA and A5diol requires their conversion via 3betaHSD to androstenedione and testosterone, respectively. Here, we show that DHEA and A5diol induce AR chromatin occupancy and AR-regulated genes. Furthermore, we show that Delta(5)-androgens undergo 3beta-dehydrogenation in prostate cancer and that induction of AR nuclear translocation, AR chromatin occupancy, transcription of PSA, TMPRSS2, and FKBP5, as well as cell proliferation by DHEA and A5diol, are all blocked by inhibitors of 3betaHSD. These findings demonstrate that DHEA and A5diol must be metabolized by 3betaHSD to activate AR in these models of CRPC. Furthermore, this work suggests that 3betaHSD may be exploited as a pharmacologic target in the treatment of CRPC.
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PMID:3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase is a possible pharmacological target in the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. 2053 28