Deciphering the regulome of androgen receptor variants in prostate cancer

Abstract:

Prostate cancer is an androgen-dependent disease. Androgen function is controlled by the androgen receptor (AR), and treatments targeting AR are effective at preventing disease progression. Despite this, resistance and emergence of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is responsible for virtually all prostate cancer-related death. Constitutively active AR variants (AR-Vs) have been implicated as drivers of CRPC. AR-Vs consist of the unstructured AR NH2-terminal domain (NTD), and the AR DNA binding domain, but lack the ligand binding domain (LBD), which is targeted by all current therapies. While our understanding of proteins that regulate the AR LBD is mature, there is less known about the molecular regulation of the NTD. This represents a gap in knowledge given that the AR NTD is essential for AR/AR-V transcriptional activity. To address this, we used a technique termed Rapid Immunoprecipitation Mass spectrometry of Endogenous proteins (RIME) with a pair of isogenic prostate cancer cell lines that were manipulated via genome engineering to express either full-length AR or AR-V. RIME identified several candidate proteins that interact with the AR NTD including BCL9, a Beta-catenin transcriptional coactivator. Interrogation of public databases revealed that BCL9 mRNA is overexpressed in metastatic prostate cancer compared with localized disease. Additionally, knockdown of BCL9 in cell lines expressing full-length AR inhibited expression of AR and Beta-catenin target genes. Interestingly, knock-down of BCL9 did not affect these same genes in cell lines expressing AR-Vs, indicating that AR truncation could represent a mechanism of escape from BCL9 regulation. Collectively, these findings identify a new mechanism of AR regulation by BCL9 in prostate cancer

Authors:

ML Daniel, TE Hickey, JS Carroll, WD Tilley, LA Selth, SM Dehm

Journal:

CANCER RESEARCH

Citation info:

78(13)

Publication date:

1st Jul 2018

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