Microtubule-associated protein tau is associated with the resistance to docetaxel in prostate cancer cell lines.

Tau, a microtubule-associated protein, has been investigated primarily in neurons. Recently, tau has been explored to be associated with increased drug resistance in various kinds of cancers. We found that the tau was expressed in prostate cancer cell lines DU145 and PC-3. We also reported that recurrent prostate cancer cells after docetaxel treatment have higher levels of microtubule-associated protein tau. In vitro, inactivation of tau by gene knockdown suppressed cell proliferation and sensitized docetaxel cytotoxicity. Also, our results demonstrated that the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway was upregulated in DU145 docetaxel-resistant cells compared with the DU145-naïve cells. Thus, targeting tau protein and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway are promising strategies to enhance docetaxel response for the treatment of prostate cancer.