Apoptosis of androgen-independent prostate cell line induced by inhibition of fatty acid synthesis.

Androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells eventually progress to androgen -independent cells after hormonal manipulation. Due to chemotherapeutic drug resistance and toxic side effects, new targets for antineoplastic therapy are urgently needed. In the present study, cerulenin, a fatty acid synthase inhibitor, was used to induce the death of androgen-independent prostate cancer cells. Cerulenin induces the apoptosis of TSU-prl cells based upon the temporal sequence of DNA fragmentation, morphologic changes and loss of cell viability. During apoptotic process induced by the agents, expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21 and p27 increased, whereas expression of cyclin D1 decreased. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the treatment resulted in a block in G2/M of the cell cycle. These results demonstrated that inhibition of fatty acid synthesis could be a target to treat hormone-independent prostate cancer cells via apoptosis, and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors played some role during apoptotic pathway.