Novel steroid receptor phyto-modulator compound a inhibits growth and survival of prostate cancer cells

Alexander Yemelyanov, Jennifer Czwornog, Lajos Gera, Sonali Joshi, Robert T. Chatterton, Irina Budunova*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

Androgen receptor (AR)- and glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-mediated signaling play opposite roles in prostate tumorigenesis: AR promotes prostate carcinoma (PC) development, whereas GR acts as a tumor suppressor. Compound A (CpdA) is a stable analogue of an aziridine precursor from the African shrub Salsola tuberculatiformis Botschantzev. It was shown recently that, in model cells, CpdA inhibits AR function and strongly enhances anti-inflammatory function of GR. We determined the effects of CpdA in prostate cells with different AR/GR status: (a) RWPE-1 cells (ARlow/GRlow), (b) PC3 and DU145 cells (GR+/AR-), (c) LNCaP cells (GR-/AR +), and (d) LNCaP-GR cells expressing both receptors. Similar to steroid hormones, CpdA induces nuclear translocation of both receptors in prostate cells. Despite this, CpdA inhibits DNA-binding and transactivation potential of AR. In addition, CpdA inhibits GR-mediated transactivation but induces GR transrepression via inhibition of several transcription factors, including nuclear factor-κB, AP-1, Ets-1, Elk-1, SRF, CRE/ATF, and NFATc. CpdA strongly decreases growth and induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in highly malignant PC3 and DU145 cells and in other AR/GR-expressing PC cells. The cytostatic effect of CpdA is receptor dependent: down-regulation of GR or AR expression drastically attenuates CpdA-induced PC cell growth inhibition. Finally, virtual docking analysis indicates that CpdA shares binding cavities in AR and GR ligand-binding domains with corresponding hormones and forms hydrogen bonds (H-bond) with the same amino acids that are involved in H-bond formation during steroid binding. Overall, our data suggest that CpdA is a unique dual-target steroid receptor modulator that has a high potential for PC therapy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4763-4773
Number of pages11
JournalCancer Research
Volume68
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 15 2008

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

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