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Corbin JM, Georgescu C, Wang L, Wren JD, Bieniasz M, Xu C, Asch AS, Ruiz Echevarría MJ. An unbiased seed-based RNAi selection screen identifies small RNAs that inhibit androgen signaling and prostate cancer cell growth. MOLECULAR THERAPY. NUCLEIC ACIDS 2023; 33:257-272. [PMID: 37554515 PMCID: PMC10404560 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2023.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
Blocking androgen receptor signaling is the mainstay of therapy for advanced prostate cancer (PCa). However, acquired resistance to single agents targeting this pathway results in the development of lethal castration-resistant PCa. Combination therapy approaches represent a promising strategy for the treatment of advanced disease. Here, we explore a therapeutic strategy for PCa based on the ability of shRNAs/siRNAs to function essentially as miRNAs and, via seed sequence complementarity, induce RNA interference of numerous targets simultaneously. We developed a library that contained shRNAs with all possible seed sequence combinations to identify those ones that most potently reduce cell growth and viability when expressed in PCa cells. Validation of some of these RNAi sequences indicated that the toxic effect is associated with seed sequence complementarity to the 3' UTR of AR coregulatory and essential genes. In fact, expression of siRNAs containing the identified toxic seed sequences led to global inhibition of AR-mediated gene expression and reduced expression of cell-cycle genes. When tested in mice, the toxic shRNAs also inhibited castration-resistant PCa and exhibited therapeutic efficacy in pre-established tumors. Our findings highlight RNAi of androgen signaling networks as a promising therapeutic strategy for PCa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M. Corbin
- Stephenson Cancer Center, 800 NE 10th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
- Department of Pathology, Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 940 Stanton L. Young Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Constantin Georgescu
- Genes and Human Disease Research Program, Division of Genomics and Data Sciences, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Lin Wang
- Aging and Metabolism Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Jonathan D. Wren
- Genes and Human Disease Research Program, Division of Genomics and Data Sciences, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Magdalena Bieniasz
- Aging and Metabolism Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Chao Xu
- Stephenson Cancer Center, 800 NE 10th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Hudson College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 801 N.E. 13 Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Adam S. Asch
- Stephenson Cancer Center, 800 NE 10th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Maria J. Ruiz Echevarría
- Stephenson Cancer Center, 800 NE 10th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
- Department of Pathology, Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 940 Stanton L. Young Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
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Singh VK, Kainat KM, Sharma PK. Crosstalk between epigenetics and tumor promoting androgen signaling in prostate cancer. VITAMINS AND HORMONES 2023; 122:253-282. [PMID: 36863797 DOI: 10.1016/bs.vh.2022.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the major health burdens among all cancer types in men globally. Early diagnosis and efficacious treatment options are highly warranted as far as the incidence of PCa is concerned. Androgen-dependent transcriptional activation of androgen receptor (AR) is central to the prostate tumorigenesis and therefore hormonal ablation therapy remains the first line of treatment for PCa in the clinics. However, the molecular signaling engaged in AR-dependent PCa initiation and progression is infrequent and diverse. Moreover, apart from the genomic changes, non-genomic changes such as epigenetic modifications have also been suggested as critical regulator of PCa development. Among the non-genomic mechanisms, various epigenetic changes such as histones modifications, chromatin methylation and noncoding RNAs regulations etc. play decisive role in the prostate tumorigenesis. Given that epigenetic modifications are reversible using pharmacological modifiers, various promising therapeutic approaches have been designed for the better management of PCa. In this chapter, we discuss the epigenetic control of tumor promoting AR signaling that underlies the mechanism of prostate tumorigenesis and progression. In addition, we have discussed the approaches and opportunities to develop novel epigenetic modifications based therapeutic strategies for targeting PCa including castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
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Affiliation(s)
- Vipendra Kumar Singh
- Environmental Carcinogenesis Lab, Food Drug and Chemical Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - K M Kainat
- Environmental Carcinogenesis Lab, Food Drug and Chemical Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Pradeep Kumar Sharma
- Environmental Carcinogenesis Lab, Food Drug and Chemical Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India.
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Ghamlouche F, Yehya A, Zeid Y, Fakhereddine H, Fawaz J, Liu YN, Al-Sayegh M, Abou-Kheir W. MicroRNAs as clinical tools for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy in prostate cancer. Transl Oncol 2023; 28:101613. [PMID: 36608541 PMCID: PMC9827391 DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2022.101613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among men worldwide. Despite the presence of accumulated clinical strategies for PCa management, limited prognostic/sensitive biomarkers are available to follow up on disease occurrence and progression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that control gene expression through post-transcriptional regulation of their complementary target messenger RNA (mRNA). MiRNAs modulate fundamental biological processes and play crucial roles in the pathology of various diseases, including PCa. Multiple evidence proved an aberrant miRNA expression profile in PCa, which is actively involved in the carcinogenic process. The robust and pleiotropic impact of miRNAs on PCa suggests them as potential candidates to help more understand the molecular landscape of the disease, which is likely to provide tools for early diagnosis and prognosis as well as additional therapeutic strategies to manage prostate tumors. Here, we emphasize the most consistently reported dysregulated miRNAs and highlight the contribution of their altered downstream targets with PCa hallmarks. Also, we report the potential effectiveness of using miRNAs as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers in PCa and the high-throughput profiling technologies that are being used in their detection. Another key aspect to be discussed in this review is the promising implication of miRNAs molecules as therapeutic tools and targets for fighting PCa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatima Ghamlouche
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
| | - Amani Yehya
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
| | - Yousef Zeid
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
| | - Hiam Fakhereddine
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
| | - Jhonny Fawaz
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
| | - Yen-Nien Liu
- International Ph.D. Program in Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
| | - Mohamed Al-Sayegh
- Biology Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 2460, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Wassim Abou-Kheir
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon.
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AR-regulated ZIC5 contributes to the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Cell Death Dis 2022; 8:393. [PMID: 36127329 PMCID: PMC9489711 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-022-01181-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2022] [Revised: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The mechanisms by which prostate cancer (PCa) progresses to the aggressive castration-resistant stage remain uncertain. Zinc finger of the cerebellum 5 (ZIC5), a transcription factor belonging to the ZIC family, is involved in the pathology of various cancers. However, the potential effect of ZIC5 on PCa malignant progression has not been fully defined. Here, we show that ZIC5 is upregulated in PCa, particularly in metastatic lesions, in positive association with poor prognosis. Genetic inhibition of ZIC5 in PCa cells obviously attenuated invasion and metastasis and blunted the oncogenic properties of colony formation. Mechanistically, ZIC5 functioned as a transcription factor to promote TWIST1-mediated EMT progression or as a cofactor to strengthen the β-catenin-TCF4 association and stimulate Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Importantly, ZIC5 and the androgen receptor (AR) form a positive feed-forward loop to mutually stimulate each other’s expression. AR, in cooperation with its steroid receptor coactivator 3 (SRC-3), increased ZIC5 expression through binding to the miR-27b-3p promoter and repressing miR-27b-3p transcription. In turn, ZIC5 potentiated AR, AR-V7, and AR targets’ expression. Besides, ZIC5 inhibition reduced AR and AR-V7 protein expression and enhanced the sensitivity of PCa to enzalutamide (Enz) treatment, both in vitro and in vivo. These findings indicate that the reciprocal activation between AR and ZIC5 promotes metastasis and Enz resistance of PCa and suggest the therapeutic value of cotargeting ZIC5 and AR for the treatment of advanced PCa.
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