Modulation of Androgen Receptor Signaling in Hormonal Therapy-Resistant Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

Prostate epithelial cells depend on androgens for survival and function. In early prostate cancer, besides survival, androgens also regulated tumor growth, which is exploited by androgen ablation/ blockade therapies in metastatic disease. The aim of the present study was to characterize the role of the androgen receptor pathway in prostate cancer progression and to identify potential disease markers. Microarray analysis was used to establish the androgen-regulated gene expression profile, upon stimulation with the synthetic androgen R1881 or the antiandrogen hydroxyflutamide, of the androgen-responsive PC346C cell line and its derivative castration-resistant sublines: PC346DCC (vestigial AR levels), PC346Flu1 (AR overexpression) and PC346Flu2 (T877A mutated AR) PC346C, PC346DCC, PC346Flu1 and PC346Flu2 were stimulated with 1 nM R1881, 1uM hydroxyflutamide or vehicle control, following a 4, 8 and 16h time-course. Each condition was performed in dye-swap, using biological duplicates. PC346DCC was only stimulated with R1881, not hydroxyflutamide.