Opposite response of hTERT expression by androgen dose: Androgen-mediated inhibition of hTERT is mediated by the ING1 and ING2 tumor suppressors in prostate cancer cells

The catalytic subunit of the human telomerase (hTERT) is activated during tumorigenesis in many cancers including prostate cancer (PCa). Androgens mediate their effect through the androgen receptor (AR), a key factor controlling PCa growth. hTERT expression is known to be regulated by androgens, however contrarily observed to be inhibited or activated. Here, we reveal that androgens repress or activate hTERT expression in a concentration-dependent manner. Low physiological androgen levels activate while supraphysiological androgen levels (SAL) repress hTERT expression. We confirmed SAL-mediated gene repression of hTERT in native human PCa samples derived from patients treated ex vivo as well as in cancer spheroids derived from androgen-dependent and castration resistant PCa (CRPC) cells. Interestingly, based on chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) data both a positive androgen response element (pARE) at -4kb distal and a negative response element (nARE) at the proximal -0.1kb promoter region were identified. Focusing on the nARE it was narrowed down to -121 to -58 bp in the core promoter region. ChIP experiments confirmed an androgen-dependent recruitment of AR and the tumor suppressors inhibitor of growth 1 and 2 (ING1 and ING2), recently identified as AR co-repressors. Mechanistically, the knockdown of either ING1 or ING2 reduced androgen-mediated repression of hTERT indicating that ING1 and ING2 mediate AR-regulated transrepression on the hTERT expression. Thus, our data suggest a dual, biphasic function of AR to control hTERT expression by transactivation and transrepression. The inhibition of hTERT by androgens by a nARE located in the proximal promoter region is mediated at least in part by the AR co-repressors ING1 and ING2. Overall design: Transcriptional profile of C-42 and LNCaP cells upon androgen treatment.