scholarly journals Androgen receptor variants: RNA-based mechanisms and therapeutic targets

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (R1) ◽  
pp. R19-R26
Author(s):  
Kiel T Tietz ◽  
Scott M Dehm
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Targeted Therapies ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Therapeutic Targets ◽  
The United States ◽  
Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Androgen Receptor Variants ◽  
Active Transcription

Abstract Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of male cancer death in the United States. The androgen receptor (AR) transcription factor is a master regulator of normal glandular homeostasis in the prostate, as well as growth and survival of prostate cancer cells. Therefore, AR-targeted therapies are effective for improving overall survival of patients with advanced prostate cancer that is incurable by surgery or radiation. However, prostate cancer will inevitably progress on AR-targeted therapies to a castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) phenotype that accounts for virtually all prostate cancer-specific death. mRNA transcript variants of the AR gene are expressed in CRPC cells and can be translated to produce AR variant (AR-V) proteins that function as ligand-independent, constitutively active transcription factors. AR-Vs are able to support growth of CRPC cells by promoting expression of AR target genes that are normally suppressed by AR-targeted therapies. Knowledge of mechanisms that govern expression of AR-Vs is incomplete. Studies have shown genomic rearrangements of the AR gene underlie expression of diverse AR-Vs in certain CRPC tumors, but post-transcriptional processes represent a broader regulatory mechanism for expression of AR-Vs in CRPC. This review focuses on alternative splicing, 3′ end processing, miRNA-mediated mRNA repression, of AR and AR-V expression and the potential these mechanisms hold as therapeutic targets for CRPC.

scholarly journals Androgen Receptor-Related Non-coding RNAs in Prostate Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongyong Yang ◽  
Kilia Y. Liu ◽  
Qi Liu ◽  
Qi Cao
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Therapeutic Targets ◽  
The United States ◽  
Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Castration Resistant ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Non Coding Rnas

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among men in the United States. Androgen receptor (AR) signaling is the dominant oncogenic pathway in PCa and the main strategy of PCa treatment is to control the AR activity. A large number of patients acquire resistance to Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) due to AR aberrant activation, resulting in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying AR signaling in the PCa is critical to identify new therapeutic targets for PCa patients. The recent advances in high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) techniques identified an increasing number of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that play critical roles through various mechanisms in different diseases. Some ncRNAs have shown great potentials as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Many ncRNAs have been investigated to regulate PCa through direct association with AR. In this review, we aim to comprehensively summarize recent findings of the functional roles and molecular mechanisms of AR-related ncRNAs as AR regulators or targets in the progression of PCa.

scholarly journals Chromatin-directed proteomics-identified network of endogenous androgen receptor in prostate cancer cells

Oncogene ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaisa-Mari Launonen ◽  
Ville Paakinaho ◽  
Gianluca Sigismondo ◽  
Marjo Malinen ◽  
Reijo Sironen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Chorioallantoic Membrane ◽  
Chromatin Accessibility ◽  
Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer ◽  
Novel Therapy ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition

AbstractTreatment of prostate cancer confronts resistance to androgen receptor (AR)-targeted therapies. AR-associated coregulators and chromatin proteins hold a great potential for novel therapy targets. Here, we employed a powerful chromatin-directed proteomics approach termed ChIP-SICAP to uncover the composition of chromatin protein network, the chromatome, around endogenous AR in castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells. In addition to several expected AR coregulators, the chromatome contained many nuclear proteins not previously associated with the AR. In the context of androgen signaling in CRPC cells, we further investigated the role of a known AR-associated protein, a chromatin remodeler SMARCA4 and that of SIM2, a transcription factor without a previous association with AR. To understand their role in chromatin accessibility and AR target gene expression, we integrated data from ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, ATAC-seq and functional experiments. Despite the wide co-occurrence of SMARCA4 and AR on chromatin, depletion of SMARCA4 influenced chromatin accessibility and expression of a restricted set of AR target genes, especially those involved in cell morphogenetic changes in epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The depletion also inhibited the CRPC cell growth, validating SMARCA4’s functional role in CRPC cells. Although silencing of SIM2 reduced chromatin accessibility similarly, it affected the expression of a much larger group of androgen-regulated genes, including those involved in cellular responses to external stimuli and steroid hormone stimulus. The silencing also reduced proliferation of CRPC cells and tumor size in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay, further emphasizing the importance of SIM2 in CRPC cells and pointing to the functional relevance of this potential prostate cancer biomarker in CRPC cells. Overall, the chromatome of AR identified in this work is an important resource for the field focusing on this important drug target.

scholarly journals Isoform specific activities of androgen receptor and its splice variants in prostate cancer cells

Endocrinology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harika Nagandla ◽  
Matthew J Robertson ◽  
Vasanta Putluri ◽  
Nagireddy Putluri ◽  
Cristian Coarfa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Splice Variants ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer ◽  
Castration Resistant ◽  
Specific Activities ◽  
Lncap Prostate Cancer Cell

Abstract Androgen receptor (AR) signaling continues to drive castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in spite of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Constitutively active shorter variants of AR, lacking the ligand binding domain, are frequently expressed in CRPC and have emerged as a potential mechanism for prostate cancer to escape ADT. ARv7 and AR v567es are two of the most commonly detected variants of AR in clinical samples of advanced, metastatic prostate cancer. It is not clear if variants of AR merely act as weaker substitutes for AR or can mediate unique isoform specific activities different from AR. In this study, we employed LNCaP prostate cancer cell lines with inducible expression of ARv7 or AR v567es to delineate similarities and differences in transcriptomics, metabolomics and lipidomics resulting from the activation of AR, ARv7 or AR v567es. While the majority of target genes were similarly regulated by the action of all three isoforms, we found a clear difference in transcriptomic activities of AR versus the variants, and a few differences between ARv7 and AR v567es. Some of the target gene regulation by AR isoforms was similar in the VCaP background as well. Differences in downstream activities of AR isoforms were also evident from comparison of the metabolome and lipidome in an LNCaP model. Overall our study implies that shorter variants of AR are capable of mediating unique downstream activities different from AR and some of these are isoform specific.

scholarly journals Novel Selective Agents for the Degradation of Androgen Receptor Variants to Treat Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (22) ◽  
pp. 6282-6298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suriyan Ponnusamy ◽  
Christopher C. Coss ◽  
Thirumagal Thiyagarajan ◽  
Kate Watts ◽  
Dong-Jin Hwang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer ◽  
Castration Resistant ◽  
Selective Agents ◽  
Androgen Receptor Variants

scholarly journals Activation of GPR56, a novel adhesion GPCR, is necessary for nuclear androgen receptor signaling in prostate cells

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Pratibha Singh ◽  
Manisha Dagar ◽  
Gunjan Dagar ◽  
Sudhir Rawal ◽  
Ravi Datta Sharma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Intracellular Signaling ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Nuclear Translocation ◽  
Prostate Tumor ◽  
Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer ◽  
Castration Resistant ◽  
Pka Pathway ◽  
Adhesion Gpcr

AbstractThe androgen receptor (AR) is activated in patients with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) despite low circulating levels of androgen, suggesting that intracellular signaling pathways and non-androgenic factors may contribute to AR activation. Many G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and their ligands are also activated in these cells indicating a role for these in CRPC. Although a cross talk has been suggested between the two pathways, yet, the identity of GPCRs which may play a role in androgen signaling, is not established yet. We demonstrate that adhesion GPCR 205, also known as GPR56, can be activated by androgens to stimulate the Rho signaling pathway, a pathway that plays an important role in prostate tumor cell metastasis. Testosterone stimulation of GPR56 also activates the cAMP/ Protein kinase A (PKA) pathway, that is necessary for AR signaling. Knocking down the expression of GPR56 using siRNA, disrupts nuclear translocation of AR and transcription of prototypic AR target genes such as PSA. GPR56 expression is higher in all prostate tumor samples tested and cells expressing GPR56 exhibit increased proliferation. These findings provide new insights about androgen signaling and identify GPR56 as a possible therapeutic target in advanced prostate cancer patients.

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