The cancer-related Runx2 protein enhances cell growth and responses to androgen and TGFbeta in prostate cancer cells.

Prostate cancer cells often metastasize to bone where osteolytic lesions are formed. Runx2 is an essential transcription factor for bone formation and suppresses cell growth in normal osteoblasts but may function as an oncogenic factor in solid tumors (e.g., breast, prostate). Here, we addressed whether Runx2 is linked to steroid hormone and growth factor signaling, which controls prostate cancer cell growth. Protein expression profiling of prostate cell lines (i.e., PC3, LNCaP, RWPE) treated with 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or tumor growth factor beta (TGFbeta) revealed modulations in selected cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and CDK inhibitors that are generally consistent with mitogenic responses. Endogenous elevation of Runx2 and diminished p57 protein levels in PC3 cells are associated with faster proliferation in vitro and development of larger tumors upon xenografting these cells in bone in vivo. To examine whether TGFbeta or DHT signaling modulates the transcriptional activity of Runx2 and vice versa, we performed luciferase reporter assays. In PC3 cells that express TGFbetaRII, TGFbeta and Runx2 synergize to increase transcription of synthetic promoters. In LNCaP cells that are DHT responsive, Runx2 stimulates the androgen receptor (AR) responsive expression of the prostate-specific marker PSA, perhaps facilitated by formation of a complex with AR. Our data suggest that Runx2 is mechanistically linked to TGFbeta and androgen responsive pathways that support prostate cancer cell growth.