Ota Atsumi, Kawai Mina, Kudo Yudai, Segawa Jin, Hoshi Manami, Kawano Shinya, Yoshino Yuta, Ichihara Kenji, Shiota Masaki, Fujimoto Naohiro, Matsunaga Toshiyuki, Endo Satoshi, Ikari Akira
Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Gifu, 501-1196, Gifu, Japan.
Nagaragawa Research Center, API Co., Ltd., Gifu, 502-0071, Japan.
Arch Biochem Biophys. 2023 Feb;735:109519. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2023.109519. Epub 2023 Jan 13.
Prostate cancer has a relatively good prognosis, but most cases develop resistance to hormone therapy, leading to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Androgen receptor (AR) antagonists and a cytochrome P450 17A1 inhibitor have been used to treat CRPC, but cancer cells readily develop resistance to these drugs. In this study, to improve the therapy of CRPC, we searched for natural compounds which block androgen signaling. Among cinnamic acid derivatives contained in Brazilian green propolis, artepillin C (ArtC) suppressed expressions of androgen-induced prostate-specific antigen and transmembrane protease serine 2 in a dose-dependent manner. Reporter assays revealed that ArtC displayed AR antagonist activity, albeit weaker than an AR antagonist flutamide. In general, aberrant activation of the androgen signaling is involved in the resistance of prostate cancer cells to hormone therapy. Recently, apalutamide, a novel AR antagonist, has been in clinical use, but its drug-resistant cases have been already reported. To search for compounds which overcome the resistance to apalutamide, we established apalutamide-resistant prostate cancer 22Rv1 cells (22Rv1/APA). The 22Rv1/APA cells showed higher AR expression and androgen sensitivity than parental 22Rv1 cells. ArtC inhibited androgen-induced proliferation of 22Rv1/APA cells by suppressing the enhanced androgen signaling through blocking the nuclear translocation of AR. In addition, ArtC potently sensitized the resistant cells to apalutamide by inducing apoptotic cell death due to mitochondrial dysfunction. These results suggest that the intake of Brazilian green propolis containing ArtC improves prostate cancer therapy.
前列腺癌的预后相对较好,但大多数病例会对激素疗法产生耐药性,从而导致去势抵抗性前列腺癌(CRPC)。雄激素受体(AR)拮抗剂和细胞色素P450 17A1抑制剂已被用于治疗CRPC,但癌细胞很容易对这些药物产生耐药性。在本研究中,为了改善CRPC的治疗,我们寻找了阻断雄激素信号的天然化合物。在巴西绿蜂胶所含的肉桂酸衍生物中,artepillin C(ArtC)以剂量依赖的方式抑制雄激素诱导的前列腺特异性抗原和跨膜蛋白酶丝氨酸2的表达。报告基因检测显示,ArtC具有AR拮抗剂活性,尽管其活性比AR拮抗剂氟他胺弱。一般来说,雄激素信号的异常激活与前列腺癌细胞对激素疗法的耐药性有关。最近,一种新型AR拮抗剂阿帕他胺已投入临床使用,但已有其耐药病例的报道。为了寻找克服对阿帕他胺耐药的化合物,我们建立了阿帕他胺耐药的前列腺癌22Rv1细胞(22Rv1/APA)。22Rv1/APA细胞比亲代22Rv1细胞表现出更高的AR表达和雄激素敏感性。ArtC通过阻断AR的核转位抑制增强的雄激素信号,从而抑制雄激素诱导的22Rv1/APA细胞增殖。此外,ArtC通过诱导线粒体功能障碍导致的凋亡性细胞死亡,使耐药细胞对阿帕他胺高度敏感。这些结果表明,摄入含有ArtC的巴西绿蜂胶可改善前列腺癌治疗。