Department of Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
Cancer Cell. 2010 Apr 13;17(4):319-32. doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2010.02.030.
High Gleason grade prostate carcinomas are aggressive, poorly differentiated tumors that exhibit diminished estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) expression. We report that a key function of ERbeta and its specific ligand 5alpha-androstane-3beta,17beta-diol (3beta-adiol) is to maintain an epithelial phenotype and repress mesenchymal characteristics in prostate carcinoma. Stimuli (TGF-beta and hypoxia) that induce an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) diminish ERbeta expression, and loss of ERbeta is sufficient to promote an EMT. The mechanism involves ERbeta-mediated destabilization of HIF-1alpha and transcriptional repression of VEGF-A. The VEGF-A receptor neuropilin-1 drives the EMT by promoting Snail1 nuclear localization. Importantly, this mechanism is manifested in high Gleason grade cancers, which exhibit significantly more HIF-1alpha and VEGF expression, and Snail1 nuclear localization compared to low Gleason grade cancers.
高分级前列腺癌是侵袭性的、低分化肿瘤,其雌激素受体β(ERβ)表达减少。我们报告 ERβ及其特异性配体 5α-雄烷-3β,17β-二醇(3β-adiol)的一个关键功能是维持前列腺癌中的上皮表型并抑制间充质特征。诱导上皮-间充质转化(EMT)的刺激物(TGF-β和缺氧)会降低 ERβ 的表达,而 ERβ 的缺失足以促进 EMT。该机制涉及 ERβ 介导的 HIF-1α 不稳定性和 VEGF-A 的转录抑制。VEGF-A 受体神经纤毛蛋白-1通过促进 Snail1 核定位来驱动 EMT。重要的是,这种机制在高分级癌症中表现出来,与低分级癌症相比,其表现出显著更高的 HIF-1α 和 VEGF 表达以及 Snail1 核定位。