Antisense inhibition of the PTI-1 oncogene reverses cancer phenotypes

The genetic alterations and molecular events mediating human prostate cancer development and progression remain to be defined. Rapid expression cloning and differential RNA display detect a putative oncogene, prostate tumor-inducing gene 1 (PTI-1), that is differentially expressed in human prostate (as well as breast, colon, and small cell lung) cancer cell lines, patient-derived prostate carcinomas, and blood from patients with metastatic prostate cancer. PTI-1 consists of a unique 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) with significant sequence homology to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae 23S ribosomal RNA juxtaposed to a sequence that encodes a truncated and mutated human elongation factor 1α (Trun-EF). Stable expression of a nearly full-length 1.9-kb PTI-1 gene, but not the separate PTI-1 5′ UTR or Trun-EF region, in normal rat embryo fibroblast cells, CREF-Trans 6, induces an aggressive tumorigenic phenotype in athymic nude mice. Blocking PTI-1 expression with antisense PTI-1 results in reversion of transformed PTI-1-expressing cells to a more normal cellular morphology with suppression in both anchorage-independent growth and tumorigenic potential in athymic nude mice. These findings document that PTI-1 is indeed an oncogene, and directly blocking PTI-1 expression can nullify cancer phenotypes. In these contexts, PTI-1 not only represents a gene with discriminating diagnostic properties but also may serve as a target for the gene-based therapy of human prostate and other cancers.