TAF1 differentially enhances androgen receptor transcriptional activity via its N-terminal kinase and ubiquitin-activating and -conjugating domains.

Aberrant expression of androgen receptor (AR) coregulators has been linked to progression of prostate cancers to castration resistance. Using the repressed transactivator yeast two-hybrid system, we found that TATA binding protein-associated factor 1 (TAF1) interacted with the AR. In tissue microarrays, TAF1 was shown to steadily increase with duration of neoadjuvant androgen withdrawal and with progression to castration resistance. Glutathione S-transferase pulldown assays established that TAF1 bound through its acetylation and ubiquitin-activating/conjugating domains (E1/E2) directly to the AR N terminus. Coimmunoprecipitation and ChIP assays revealed colocalization of TAF1 and AR on the prostate-specific antigen promoter/enhancer in prostate cancer cells. With respect to modulation of AR activity, overexpression of TAF1 enhanced AR activity severalfold, whereas small interfering RNA knockdown of TAF1 significantly decreased AR transactivation. Although full-length TAF1 showed enhancement of both AR and some generic gene transcriptional activity, selective AR coactivator activity by TAF1 was demonstrated in transactivation experiments using cloned N-terminal kinase and E1/E2 functional domains. In keeping with AR coactivation by the ubiquitin-activating and -conjugating domain, TAF1 was found to greatly increase the cellular amount of polyubiquitinated AR. In conclusion, our results indicate that increased TAF1 expression is associated with progression of human prostate cancers to the lethal castration-resistant state. Because TAF1 is a coactivator of AR that binds and enhances AR transcriptional activity, its overexpression could be part of a compensatory mechanism adapted by cancer cells to overcome reduced levels of circulating androgens.