Two areas of particular importance in prostate cancer progression are primary tumour development and metastasis. These processes involve a number of physiological events, the mediators of which are still being discovered and characterised. Serine proteases have been shown to play a major role in cancer invasion and metastasis. The recently discovered phenomenon of their activation of a receptor family known as the protease activated receptors (PARs) has extended their physiological role to that of signaling molecule. Several serine proteases are expressed by malignant prostate cancer cells, including members of the kallikreinrelated peptidase (KLK) serine protease family, and increasingly these are being shown to be associated with prostate cancer progression. KLK4 is highly expressed in the prostate and expression levels increase during prostate cancer progression. Critically, recent studies have implicated KLK4 in processes associated with cancer. For example, the ectopic over-expression of KLK4 in prostate cancer cell lines results in an increased ability of these cells to form colonies, proliferate and migrate. In addition, it has been demonstrated that KLK4 is a potential mediator of cellular interactions between prostate cancer cells and osteoblasts (bone forming cells). The ability of KLK4 to influence cellular behaviour is believed to be through the selective cleavage of specific substrates. Identification of relevant in vivo substrates of KLK4 is critical to understanding the pathophysiological roles of this enzyme. Significantly, recent reports have demonstrated that several members of the KLK family are able to activate PARs. The PARs are relatively new members of the seven transmembrane domain containing G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) family. PARs are activated through proteolytic cleavage of their N-terminus by serine proteases, the resulting nascent N-terminal binds intramolecularly to initiate receptor activation. PARs are involved in a number of patho-physiological processes, including vascular repair and inflammation, and a growing body of evidence suggests roles in cancer. While expression of PAR family members has been documented in several types of cancers, including prostate, the role of these GPCRs in prostate cancer development and progression is yet to be examined. Interestingly, several studies have suggested potential roles in cellular invasion through the induction of cytoskeletal reorganisation and expression of basement membrane-degrading enzymes. Accordingly, this program of research focussed on the activation of the PARs by the prostate cancer associated enzyme KLK4, cellular processing of activated PARs and the expression pattern of receptor and agonist in prostate cancer. For these studies KLK4 was purified from the conditioned media of stably transfected Sf9 insect cells expressing a construct containing the complete human KLK4 coding sequence in frame with a V5 epitope and poly-histidine encoding sequences. The first aspect of this study was the further characterisation of this recombinant zymogen form of KLK4. The recombinant KLK4 zymogen was demonstrated to be activatable by the metalloendopeptidase thermolysin and amino terminal sequencing indicated that thermolysin activated KLK4 had the predicted N-terminus of mature active KLK4 (31IINED). Critically, removal of the pro-region successfully generated a catalytically active enzyme, with comparable activity to a previously published recombinant KLK4 produced from S2 insect cells. The second aspect of this study was the activation of the PARs by KLK4 and the initiation of signal transduction. This study demonstrated that KLK4 can activate PAR-1 and PAR-2 to mobilise intracellular Ca2+, but failed to activate PAR-4. Further, KLK4 activated PAR-1 and PAR-2 over distinct concentration ranges, with KLK4 activation and mobilisation of Ca2+ demonstrating higher efficacy through PAR-2. Thus, the remainder of this study focussed on PAR-2. KLK4 was demonstrated to directly cleave a synthetic peptide that mimicked the PAR-2 Nterminal activation sequence. Further, KLK4 mediated Ca2+ mobilisation through PAR-2 was accompanied by the initiation of the extra-cellular regulated kinase (ERK) cascade. The specificity of intracellular signaling mediated through PAR-2 by KLK4 activation was demonstrated by siRNA mediated protein depletion, with a reduction in PAR-2 protein levels correlating to a reduction in KLK4 mediated Ca2+mobilisation and ERK phosphorylation. The third aspect of this study examined cellular processing of KLK4 activated PAR- 2 in a prostate cancer cell line. PAR-2 was demonstrated to be expressed by five prostate derived cell lines including the prostate cancer cell line PC-3. It was also demonstrated by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy analyses that activation of PC-3 cell surface PAR-2 by KLK4 leads to internalisation of this receptor in a time dependent manner. Critically, in vivo relevance of the interaction between KLK4 and PAR-2 was established by the observation of the co-expression of receptor and agonist in primary prostate cancer and prostate cancer bone lesion samples by immunohistochemical analysis. Based on the results of this study a number of exciting future studies have been proposed, including, delineating differences in KLK4 cellular signaling via PAR-1 and PAR-2 and the role of PAR-1 and PAR-2 activation by KLK4 in prostate cancer cells and bone cells in prostate cancer progression.

[Truncated abstract] In recent years a better understanding of the biology of PPAR , a nuclear transcription factor, has emerged, leading to a resurgence in targeting PPAR for chemotherapy. The family of synthetic PPAR agonists, the thiazolidinediones (TZDs), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been implicated in the inhibition of cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of androgen-sensitive (LNCaP) and androgen-independent (PC-3 and DU145) prostate cancer cells generating much interest in their use for potential curative cancer therapies. In light of the potential use of TZDs and NSAIDs in prostate cancer prevention and their ability to induce inhibitory effects in vitro and in vivo, the first aim of this project was to undertake a comprehensive study of the effects of ciglitazone (TZD) and indomethacin (NSAID) on the androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line DU145, using standardised concentrations and time-points to compare the effects of TZDs and NSAIDs on cell proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis. Treating the cells with either 10 µM ciglitazone or 10 µM indomethacin resulted in a time-dependent decrease in DU145 cell proliferation. The anti-proliferative effects were found to be in-part attributed to the slowing of cell progression through the G1/S-phase checkpoint of the cell cycle, and in the case of ciglitazone, apoptosis also played a role in its anti-proliferative effects in this cell line. Interestingly, although indomethacin failed to induce apoptosis, its antiproliferative effects were more potent than ciglitazone. The second aim of this project was to further investigate the underlying mechanisms responsible for the anti-proliferative effects of ciglitazone and indomethacin by evaluating their ability to modulate PPAR mRNA and protein expression, and to induce PPAR transcriptional activity. ... In addition, ligandinduced regulation of secreted frizzled related protein 4 (sFRP4) expression, a Wnt/ - catenin antagonists, was investigated. It was demonstrated that both ciglitazone and indomethacin attenuated Wnt/ -catenin signalling via the down-regulation of total - catenin levels within the cells, inhibition or slowing of the translocation of cytoplasmic -catenin into the nucleus and inhibition of cyclin–D1 expression An inverse relationship between PPAR and -catenin protein levels was also detected, suggesting that PPAR may directly bind to -catenin itself. sFRP4 expression was transiently upregulated by ciglitazone and indomethacin-treatment, suggesting that the antiproliferative effects of the ligands may be mediated in part through regulation of sFRP4 mRNA and protein levels. In summary, the anti-proliferative effects of ciglitazone and indomethacin on the androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line, DU145, described in this thesis are progressive steps in characterising the role of PPAR in prostate cancer cell proliferation. The identification of indomethacin as a more potent PPAR agonist than ciglitazone represents a novel target for the development of preventative strategies for advanced disease, and the relationship between PPAR and the Wnt/ -catenin signalling pathway provide an insight into the mechanisms involved in the anti-proliferative effects of ciglitazone and indomethacin. Further studies into this relationship would advance help identify novel preventative and curative therapeutic strategies for advanced prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death in men aged 40-55. Genistein isoflavone (4', 5', 7-trihydroxyisoflavone) is a dietary phytochemical with demonstrated anti-tumor activities in a variety of cancers. Topotecan Hydrochloride (Hycamtin) is an FDA-approved chemotherapy drug, primarily used for secondary treatment of ovarian,cervical and small cell lung cancers. This study was to demonstrate the potential anticancer activities and synergy of topotecan-genistein combination in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. The potential efficacy and mechanism of topotecan/genistein-induced cell death was investigated... Results: The overall data indicated that i) both genistein and topotecan induce cellular death in LNCaP cells, ii) topotecan-genistein combination was significantly more efficacious in reducing LNCaP cell viabiligy compared to either genistein or topotecan alone, iii) in all cases, cell death was primarily through apoptosis, via the activation of the intrinsic pathway, iv) ROS levels were increased and VEGF expression was diminished significantly with the topotecan-genistein combination treatment, v) genetic analysis of topotecan-genistein treatment groups showed changes in genetic expression levels in pathway specific apoptotic genes.... Conclusion: Treatments involving topotecan-genistein combination may prove to be an attractive alternative phytotherapy of adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer. / by Vanessa P. Hèormann. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This dissertation studies the effects of fatty acids on prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases in males in the U.S. Because of the slow progression of this disease, early intervention methods, especially, dietary fatty acid interventions are considered very important to control the disease in early stages. This study describes how the depletion of the enzyme for endogenous fatty acid synthesis, fatty acid synthase, influences the expression of enzymes that metabolize dietary fatty acids and show how dietary fatty acids affect prostate cancer protein expression and function. Fatty acid synthase is an oncoprotein overexpressed in prostate cancer and its expression is suppressed with omega-3 fatty acid treatment. This study finds that the depletion of fatty acid synthase by siRNA knockdown induces suppression of cyclooxygenase-2 and fatty acid desaturase-1. Our results also show that fish oil (omega-3 fatty acid), but not oleic acid (omega-9 fatty acid), suppresses prostate cancer cell viability. Assessment of fatty acid synthesis activity indicates that oleic acid is a more potent inhibitor than fish oil of de novo fatty acid biosynthesis. In addition, the inhibition of its activity occurs over several days while its effects on cell viability occur within 24 hours. To better understand this relationship, label free LC-MS/MS based mass spectrometry was carried out to determine global proteomic and phosphoproteomic profiles of the prostate cell line PC3, with longitudinal treatment with fish oil or oleic acid. With short-term fish oil treatment, sequestosome-1was elevated. Prolonged treatment induced downregulation of microseminoprotein, a proinflammation factor, as well as proteins in the glycolysis pathway. In the phosphoproteomics study, we confidently identified 828 phosphopeptides from 361 phosphoproteins. Quantitative comparison between fish oil or oleic acid treated groups and the untreated group suggests that the fish oil induces changes in phosphorylation of proteins involved in the pathways associated with cell viability and metabolic processes, with fish oil inducing significant decreases in the levels of phospho-PDHA1Ser232 and phospho-PDHA1Ser300 and they were accompanied by an increase in PDH activity, suggesting a role for n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in controlling the balance between lipid and glucose oxidation.

No description available.

Master of Science / Department of Human Nutrition / Brian Lindshield / 5α-reductase 1 (5αR1) and 5α-reductase 2 (5αR2) convert testosterone into the more potent androgen, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), that is responsible for regulating prostate growth and proliferation. 5αR2 is the main isoenzyme in normal prostate tissue, however prostate tumors have increased 5αR1 and decreased or unchanged 5αR2 expression. Previously, finasteride (5αR2 inhibitor) treatment begun 3 weeks after tumor implantation had no effect on Dunning R3327-H rat prostate tumor growth. We believe the tumor compensated for finasteride treatment by increasing tumor 5αR1 activity to produce dihydrotestosterone to stimulate its growth. We hypothesize that finasteride treatment would not significantly alter tumor growth even if begun before tumor implantation, while dutasteride (dual 5αR1 & 5αR2 inhibitor) treatment would decrease tumor growth regardless if treatment is begun before or after tumor implantation. Sixty, 8-week old male nude mice were randomized to Control, Pre-Finasteride, Post-Finasteride, Pre-Dutasteride and Post-Dutasteride diet groups (all diets contained 83.3 mg drug/kg diet). Pre groups began their treatment diets 1-2 weeks prior to tumor implantation, while post groups began their treatment diets 3 weeks after tumor implantation. Tumors were implanted by subcutaneous injection of 1 x 10⁵ WPE1-NA22 human prostate cancer cells in Matrigel™ and allowed to grow for 22 weeks. Tumor areas, body weights, and feed intakes were measured weekly. At study conclusion, prostate and seminal vesicle weights were significantly decreased in all treatment groups versus the control. Dutasteride intake also significantly reduced seminal vesicle weights compared to finasteride intake. There were no significant differences in final tumor areas or tumor weights between groups, likely due to poor tumor growth. In follow-up studies, proliferation of WPE1-NA22 prostate cancer cells, and its parent line RWPE-1 prostate epithelial cells, were unaltered by treatment with testosterone, DHT, or the synthetic androgen mibolerone, suggesting that these cell lines are not androgen-sensitive. Thus, the lack of response to androgen treatment by WPE1-NA22 prostate cancer cells may explain the inadequate tumor growth observed.

BACKGROUND:Transglutaminase-4 (TGase-4), also known as the Prostate Transglutaminase, is an enzyme found to be expressed predominately in the prostate gland. The protein has been recently reported to influence the migration and invasiveness of prostate cancer cells. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of TGase-4 on cell-matrix adhesion and search for the candidate active domains] within the protein.METHODS:Human prostate cancer cell lines and prostate tissues were used. Plasmids that encoded different domains and full length of TGase-4 were constructed and used to generate sublines that expressed different domains. The impact of TGase-4 on in vitro cell-matrix adhesion, cell migration, growth and in vivo growth were investigated. Interactions between TGase-4 and focal adhesion complex proteins were investigated using immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence and phosphospecific antibodies.RESULTS:TGase-4 markedly increased cell-matrix adhesion and cellular migration, and resulted in a rapid growth of prostate tumours in vivo. This effect resided in the Core-domain of the TGase-4 protein. TGase-4 was found to co-precipitate and co-localise with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and paxillin, in cells, human prostate tissues and tumour xenografts. FAK small inhibitor was able to block the action mediated by TGase-4 and TGase-4 core domain.CONCLUSION:TGase-4 is an important regulator of cell-matrix adhesion of prostate cancer cells. This effect is predominately mediated by its core domain and requires the participation of focal adhesion complex proteins.

NKX3.1, a prostate specific homeobox gene is a known marker of prostate epithelium during embryogenesis and is also expressed subsequently through different stages of prostate differentiation. However, all studies on NKX3.1 are focused on its regulation by androgen receptor (AR). The aim of this project is to establish the role of NKX3.1 in differentiation in prostate cancer, independent of AR regulation. In this thesis, I characterize the cell lines in terms of their differentiation capabilities in 3D, expression levels of NKX3.1 and the mismatch repair status. The genes potentially involved in differentiation and regulators of NKX3.1 are also identified using microarray data of the cell lines (<b>Chapter 3</b>). Although NKX3.1 plays a key role in prostate development no studies have been conducted on the effect of NKX3.1 expression on differentiation capabilities of prostate cell lines. In <b>Chapter 4</b>, this was investigated by siRNA mediated knockdown of NKX3.1 in 22Rv1 cell line and overexpression of NKX3.1 in PC3 (designated PC3-Nkx3.1) and PNT1a cells followed by growth in 3D. These functional studies show that the expression of NKX3.1 is vital for lumen formation in 3D, which is used as a measure of differentiation. The microarray data and overexpression of NKX3.1 studies suggest that this gene may also be involved in inhibiting epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Homeobox B13 (HOXB13) was identified as one of the downstream targets of NKX3.1. NKX3.1 and HOXB13 expression levels are positively correlated not only in the panel of prostate cell lines but also in the NKX3.1 overexpression and knockdown studies (<b>Chapter 5</b>). The results of the work presented in this thesis demonstrate that there is a striking parallel between the function of NKX3.1 in prostate and Caudal-type homeobox 1 (CDX1) in the colon and rectum. In conclusion, NKX3.1 plays a key role as a tumour suppressor in prostate cancer by controlling differentiation of prostate cancer cells.

Bakgrund: Prostatacancer är den vanligaste cancerformen som drabbar män i Sverige. Sjukdomen skapar olika besvär som påverkar männens dagliga liv. Under sjukdomsförloppet upplever männen att de förlorar sin värdighet. Som sjuksköterska är det viktigt att se till hela patienten och ge en personcentrerad omvårdnad utifrån omvårdnadsdiagnoser. Syfte: Att belysa mäns upplevelse av att leva med prostatacancer. Metod: Litteraturstudie med kvalitativ design. Data hämtades från 12 vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat: Studien utmynnade i fem kategorier som männen upplevde: informationsbehov, förlorad värdighet, oro för egen dödlighet, upplevelse av olika stöd och anpassning av vardagen. Slutsats: Männens vardag påverkas av sjukdomen prostatacancer och de behöver stöd i olika former. Sjuksköterskan bör möta männen på deras nivå och ge männen en individanpassad omvårdnad. / Background: Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer that afflicts men in Sweden. The affliction creates different struggles that affect the men’s daily lives. During the progress of the disease the men experience a loss of their dignity. As a nurse it is important to care for the patient as a whole and provide a personal care, related to the nursing diagnosis of the patient. Aim: To shed light on the experiences of the men who are currently living with prostate cancer. Method: A study of literature focusing on qualitative data. Data was gathered from 12 scientific articles. Result: The study led to five categories that the men experienced: The lack of information, loss of dignity, anxiety surrounding own mortality, experience of different support forms and adjustment of the everyday life. Conclusion: The men’s daily lives are affected extensively by the disease prostate cancer and they need different forms of support. The nurse should level with the men in order to provide an individual care.

Despite recent advances, prognosis in metastatic prostate cancer remains poor. As with other cancers, tumor heterogeneity is an increasingly evident contributor in prostate tumorigenesis and developed resistance. Using in vitro and in vivo model systems, we examined novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in prostate cancer. In these studies, combination treatment with amuvatinib, a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and erlotinib, an epidermal growth factor inhibitor, was assessed for its ability to differentially modulate growth signaling in pathway diverse LNCaP (PTEN⁻) and DU-145 (PTEN⁺) human prostate cancer cell and mouse xenograft models. Our results suggest both individual mechanistic signaling activities, as well as benefits of the combination therapy though modulations of MAPK (pERK) and 4EBP1/cyclin D1 in growth signaling divergent PTEN+ and PTEN- prostate cancer cells. Additionally, despite the importance preanalytical tissue preservation on downstream diagnostic assays, exact protocols are not well defined and highly variable clinically and, as such, critical diagnostic information is lost. We show that a novel 2+2 fixation method induces target- and cell-specific alterations in immunostain intensity and efficacy. Importantly, cyclin D1 is increasingly utilized for as a clinical prognostic/diagnostic marker and demonstrated improved immunohistochemical staining efficacy with 2+2 fixation compared with treatment-matched xenograft protein alterations as assessed by western analysis. Finally, pentoxifylline (PTX) is a clinically utilized and well tolerated PDE inhibitor that has shown promise as a radio-/chemo-sensitization and anti-cancer agent against a variety of cancers. In these studies, we demonstrate that PTX induces cell and tumor growth inhibition in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. Mechanistically, PTX induces transient cellular signaling modulations of both the AMPK metabolic and AKT/mTOR growth pathways, while inducing autophagy. Also, PTX sensitizes LNCaP prostate cancer to cytotoxicity induced by first line chemotherapy docetaxel, inducing significant cellular apoptosis and reducing effective docetaxel concentrations by >10 fold for equivalent toxicity in viability assays. These findings nominate PTX as an adjunct therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer. In summary, these studies characterize the targeted signaling modulation by combination erlotinib and amuvatinib therapy, as well as pentoxifylline, for their use as therapies for prostate cancer. A novel fixation protocol was also assessed for improved diagnostic tissue preservation of critical signaling proteins. Further understanding in these areas will aid and expand the development of effective diagnostics, as well as emphasize the benefits of these and similar therapeutics for the treatment of prostate cancer.