Adrenomedullin prevents apoptosis in prostate cancer cells

The 52-aminoacid peptide adrenomedullin (AM) is expressed in the normal and malignant prostate. We have previously shown that prostate cancer cells produce and secrete AM, which acts as an autocrine growth inhibitory factor. We have evaluated in the present study the role of AM in prostate cancer cell apoptosis, induced either by serum deprivation or treatment with the chemotherapeutic agent etoposide (which acts as an inhibitor of topoisomerase II). For this purpose we over-expressed AM in PC-3, DU 145 and LNCaP cells, which were transfected with an expression vector carrying AM. We also treated the parental cell lines with synthetic AM in normal culture conditions and in conditions of induced-apoptosis. After serum removal, AM prevented apoptosis in DU 145 and PC-3 cells, but not in LNCaP cells. When treated with etoposide, AM prevented apoptosis in PC-3 and LNCaP cells, but not in DU 145 cells. Cell cycle analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in the percentage of AM-overexpressing PC-3 cells in the subG0/G1 phase after treatment with etoposide, as compared to the percentage of mock-transfected PC-3 treated cells. Western blot showed that protein levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 increased in parental PC-3 cells after treatment with etoposide. In PC-3 cells overexpressing AM, phosphorylated ERK1/2 basal levels were lower than basal levels of parental PC-3 cells, and treatment with etoposide did not result in such an increase. Etoposide produced a significant increase in cleaved PARP in parental PC-3 cells. However, PC-3 clones overexpressing AM that were treated with etoposide only showed a mild increase in fragmented PARP. The ratio Bcl-2/Bax was reduced in parental or mock-transfected PC-3 cells after treatment with etoposide. On the contrary, this ratio was not reduced in PC-3 clones with AM overexpression that were treated with etoposide. All these data demonstrate that AM plays a protective role against induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. These results may have important implications in prostate cancer resistance to chemotherapeutic agents

Adrenomedullin inhibits prostate cancer cell proliferation through a cAMP-independent autocrine mechanism

Adrenomedullin (AM) is a multifunctional peptide expressed in the normal and malignant prostate, and in prostate cancer cells. To elucidate the potential role of AM in prostate cancer, we have transfected the human AM gene into PC-3, DU 145, and LNCaP prostate cancer cells. Northern blot, Western blot, and radioimmunoassay techniques confirmed an increase in the synthesis and secretion of the 6kDa mature peptide, in the AM-transfected clones. Proliferation and cell cycle assays demonstrated that AM overexpression inhibited cell proliferation in PC-3 and LNCaP cells through a G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, but not in DU 145 cells. In vivo growth assays also confirmed that, at least in PC-3, AM produced a very significant reduction of tumor volume. In addition, the three cell lines expressed the CL/RCP/RAMP-2 receptor complex by RT-PCR, which suggests that AM peptide acts through an autocrine loop in prostate cancer cells. Although cAMP elevation is the most common pathway involved in AM signalling, stimulation of PC-3, DU 145, and LNCaP with synthetic AM did not increase intracellular cAMP. However, short-term stimulation of PC-3 cells with synthetic AM increased ERK1/2 activation. On the contrary, long-term stimulation, or AM overexpression, caused a reduction in the basal activation of ERK1/2. In summary, our results demonstrate that AM (either overexpressed or exogenously added) causes an inhibition of prostate cancer cell growth. This inhibition does not depend on changes in intracellular cAMP levels, but may be related to ERK1/2 activation

Adrenomedullin and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide in the normal prostate and in prostate carcinoma

There is increasing evidence for the important role played by regulatory peptides in the physiology of the normal and neoplastic prostate. Adrenomedullin (AM) and pro-adrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP) are recently discovered regulatory peptides widely expressed in the normal prostate and in prostate carcinoma. AM is produced in secretory, stroma, and endothelial cells and in neurons of the prostate ganglia. PAMP is only produced by neuroendocrine cells. The expression of AM mRNA is regulated by androgens in the rat prostate. The number of neuroendocrine cells expressing PAMP is increased in prostate carcinoma after androgen deprivation, which shows that this peptide could regulate androgen-independent prostate tumor growth. However, the roles of AM and PAMP in the normal prostate and in prostate carcinoma are yet to be elucidated

Androgen-independent expression of adrenomedullin and peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase in human prostatic carcinoma

Most of the locally advanced and metastatic prostate carcinomas (PCs) treated with antiandrogenic therapy eventually become refractory to this treatment. Locally produced factors may control prostate tumor biology after androgen withdrawal. Adrenomedullin (AM) is expressed in the prostate and could control cell growth in androgen-independent conditions. AM needs to be amidated by the enzyme peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) to become fully active. The objective of the present study was to analyze whether the expression of preproadrenomedullin (preproAM) and PAM in PC is regulated by androgens. For this purpose, human in vitro and in vivo PC models were grown in the presence or absence of androgens, and the expression of AM and PAM was examined by immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, RT-PCR, and Northern blotting. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis of AM in clinical specimens was performed to test if its expression is related to Gleason score and antiandrogenic therapy. In PC cell lines and xenografts, mRNA and protein AM levels were similar in the presence or absence of androgens. PAM expression seemed to be induced by androgen-withdrawal. Our results in clinical samples showed no relationship between AM expression and Gleason score or antiandrogenic treatment. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that preproAM and PAM expression in the human prostate is androgen-independent. In addition, we also report for the first time the expression of a novel PAM transcript in PC, which has not been previously described in other tissues

Gene expression profiling identifies IL-13 receptor alpha 2 chain as a therapeutic target in prostate tumor cells overexpressing adrenomedullin

Human adrenomedullin (AM) is a 52 amino acid peptide, which shares homology with the calcitonin gene-related peptide. Overexpression of AM in the prostate carcinoma cell line PC-3 results in growth inhibition with a 20% (for human AM) and 35% (for rat AM) increase in doubling time compared to parental or mock-transfected cells. We demonstrate by gene expression profiling that AM overexpression results in the dysregulation of approximately 100 genes. Examples of such genes include many involved in the formation of the cytoskeleton, cell adhesion and the extracellular matrix, as well as regulators of the cell cycle and apoptosis, cytokines and transcription factors. Several genes related to cell growth arrest, such as GADD45, IGF-BP6 and RUNX-3, are upregulated by AM. Interestingly, interleukin-13 receptor alpha 2 (IL-13R alpha 2) transcripts were significantly increased in clones overexpressing AM, which was confirmed by semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis. In addition, PC-3 cells treated with AM showed an overexpression of IL-13R alpha 2, which was abolished when cells were preincubated with an anti-AM blocking antibody. When PC-3 cells overexpressing AM and the IL-13R alpha 2 were treated with the highly specific IL13-PE38 cytotoxin, which binds to this receptor, a concentration-dependent inhibition of protein synthesis was observed. The IC(50) (concentration of cytotoxin inhibiting protein synthesis by 50%) ranged from 1 to 4 ng/ml. This cytotoxicity was specific as it was neutralized by the excess of IL-13 and confirmed by clonogenic assays. This study describes a novel AM-induced mechanism of tumor sensitization through the upregulation of functional IL-13R alpha 2 chain, an ideal target for the highly specific recombinant chimeric cytotoxin IL13-PE38

Overexpression of adrenomedullin gene markedly inhibits proliferation of PC3 prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

The expression of the gene encoding adrenomedullin (AM), a multifunctional peptide hormone, in the prostate is localized to the epithelial cells. Prostate cancer cells are derived from prostatic epithelial cells. To elucidate the potential role of the AM gene in prostate cancer progression, we have stably-transfected the PC3 human prostate cancer cell line with an AM gene expression vector. The AM-transfected PC3 sublines were studied along with parental and empty vector transfected PC3 cells as controls. The average level of AM in the conditioned media of AM-transfected cells was 0.959+/-0.113 nM, a physiologically relevant concentration. The ectopic expression of AM gene inhibited the proliferation of PC3 cells in culture dishes. In addition, anchorage-independent growth of the transfected sublines was virtually abolished in soft agar assays. Flow cytometry studies showed that overexpression of AM gene caused a very significant G(1)/G(0) cell cycle arrest. In vivo experiments demonstrated that AM gene expression markedly inhibited the growth of xenograft tumors in nude mice. Our in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that AM could strongly suppress the malignancy of prostate cancer cells, via autocrine and/or paracrine mechanisms

Selectively Targeting Breast Cancer Stem Cells by 8-Quinolinol and Niclosamide

Cancer maintenance, metastatic dissemination and drug resistance are sustained by cancer stem cells (CSCs). Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the breast cancer subtype with the highest number of CSCs and the poorest prognosis. Here, we aimed to identify potential drugs targeting CSCs to be further employed in combination with standard chemotherapy in TNBC treatment. The anti-CSC efficacy of up to 17 small drugs was tested in TNBC cell lines using cell viability assays on differentiated cancer cells and CSCs. Then, the effect of 2 selected drugs (8-quinolinol -8Q- and niclosamide -NCS-) in the cancer stemness features were evaluated using mammosphere growth, cell invasion, migration and anchorage-independent growth assays. Changes in the expression of stemness genes after 8Q or NCS treatment were also evaluated. Moreover, the potential synergism of 8Q and NCS with PTX on CSC proliferation and stemness-related signaling pathways was evaluated using TNBC cell lines, CSC-reporter sublines, and CSC-enriched mammospheres. Finally, the efficacy of NCS in combination with PTX was analyzed in vivo using an orthotopic mouse model of MDA-MB-231 cells. Among all tested drug candidates, 8Q and NCS showed remarkable specific anti-CSC activity in terms of CSC viability, migration, invasion and anchorage independent growth reduction in vitro. Moreover, specific 8Q/PTX and NCS/PTX ratios at which both drugs displayed a synergistic effect in different TNBC cell lines were identified. The sole use of PTX increased the relative presence of CSCs in TNBC cells, whereas the combination of 8Q and NCS counteracted this pro-CSC activity of PTX while significantly reducing cell viability. In vivo, the combination of NCS with PTX reduced tumor growth and limited the dissemination of the disease by reducing circulating tumor cells and the incidence of lung metastasis. The combination of 8Q and NCS with PTX at established ratios inhibits both the proliferation of differentiated cancer cells and the viability of CSCs, paving the way for more efficacious TNBC treatments

Conformational and functional variants of CD44-targeted protein nanoparticles bio-produced in bacteria

Biofabrication is attracting interest as a means to produce nanostructured functional materials because of its operational versatility and full scalability. Materials based on proteins are especially appealing, as the structure and functionality of proteins can be adapted by genetic engineering. Furthermore, strategies and tools for protein production have been developed and refined steadily for more than 30 years. However, protein conformation and therefore activity might be sensitive to production conditions. Here, we have explored whether the downstream strategy influences the structure and biological activities, in vitro and in vivo, of a self-assembling, CD44-targeted protein-only nanoparticle produced in Escherichia coli. This has been performed through the comparative analysis of particles built from soluble protein species or protein versions obtained by in vitro protein extraction from inclusion bodies, through mild, non-denaturing procedures. These methods have been developed recently as a convenient alternative to the use of toxic chaotropic agents for protein resolubilization from protein aggregates. The results indicate that the resulting material shows substantial differences in its physicochemical properties and its biological performance at the systems level, and that its building blocks are sensitive to the particular protein source

Intracellular targeting of CD44+ cells with self-assembling, protein only nanoparticles

CD44 is a multifunctional cell surface protein involved in proliferation and differentiation, angiogenesis and signaling. The expression of CD44 is up-regulated in several types of human tumors and particularly in cancer stem cells, representing an appealing target for drug delivery in the treatment of cancer. We have explored here several protein ligands of CD44 for the construction of self-assembling modular proteins designed to bind and internalize target cells. Among five tested ligands, two of them (A5G27 and FNI/II/V) drive the formation of protein-only, ring-shaped nanoparticles of about 14 nm that efficiently bind and penetrate CD44(+) cells by an endosomal route. The potential of these newly designed nanoparticles is evaluated regarding the need of biocompatible nanostructured materials for drug delivery in CD44-linked conditions

Prostate tumor OVerexpressed-1 (PTOV1) down-regulates HES1 and HEY1 notch targets genes and promotes prostate cancer progression

Background PTOV1 is an adaptor protein with functions in diverse processes, including gene transcription and protein translation, whose overexpression is associated with a higher proliferation index and tumor grade in prostate cancer (PC) and other neoplasms. Here we report its interaction with the Notch pathway and its involvement in PC progression. Methods Stable PTOV1 knockdown or overexpression were performed by lentiviral transduction. Protein interactions were analyzed by co-immunoprecipitation, pull-down and/or immunofluorescence. Endogenous gene expression was analyzed by real time RT-PCR and/or Western blotting. Exogenous promoter activities were studied by luciferase assays. Gene promoter interactions were analyzed by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays (ChIP). In vivo studies were performed in the Drosophila melanogaster wing, the SCID-Beige mouse model, and human prostate cancer tissues and metastasis. The Excel package was used for statistical analysis [...]