Prediction of clinically significant prostate cancer through urine metabolomic signatures: A large-scale validated study.

PURPOSE: Currently, there are no accurate markers for predicting potentially lethal prostate cancer (PC) before biopsy. This study aimed to develop urine tests to predict clinically significant PC (sPC) in men at risk. METHODS: Urine samples from 928 men, namely, 660 PC patients and 268 benign subjects, were analyzed by gas chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrophotometry (GC/Q-TOF MS) metabolomic profiling to construct four predictive models. Model I discriminated between PC and benign cases. Models II, III, and GS, respectively, predicted sPC in those classified as having favorable intermediate risk or higher, unfavorable intermediate risk or higher (according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network risk groupings), and a Gleason sum (GS) of ≥ 7. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC). RESULTS: In Models I, II, III, and GS, the best AUCs (0.94, 0.85, 0.82, and 0.80, respectively; training cohort, N = 603) involved 26, 24, 26, and 22 metabolites, respectively. The addition of five clinical risk factors (serum prostate-specific antigen, patient age, previous negative biopsy, digital rectal examination, and family history) significantly improved the AUCs of the models (0.95, 0.92, 0.92, and 0.87, respectively). At 90% sensitivity, 48%, 47%, 50%, and 36% of unnecessary biopsies could be avoided. These models were successfully validated against an independent validation cohort (N = 325). Decision curve analysis showed a significant clinical net benefit with each combined model at low threshold probabilities. Models II and III were more robust and clinically relevant than Model GS. CONCLUSION: This urine test, which combines urine metabolic markers and clinical factors, may be used to predict sPC and thereby inform the necessity of biopsy in men with an elevated PC risk.

Mechanistic Insights into Harmine-Mediated Inhibition of Human DNA Methyltransferases and Prostate Cancer Cell Growth.

Mammalian DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), including DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B, are key DNA methylation enzymes and play important roles in gene expression regulation. Dysregulation of DNMTs is linked to various diseases and carcinogenesis, and therefore except for the two approved anticancer azanucleoside drugs, various non-nucleoside DNMT inhibitors have been identified and reported. However, the underlying mechanisms for the inhibitory activity of these non-nucleoside inhibitors still remain largely unknown. Here, we systematically tested and compared the inhibition activities of five non-nucleoside inhibitors toward the three human DNMTs. We found that harmine and nanaomycin A blocked the methyltransferase activity of DNMT3A and DNMT3B more efficiently than resveratrol, EGCG, and RG108. We further determined the crystal structure of harmine in complex with the catalytic domain of the DNMT3B-DNMT3L tetramer revealing that harmine binds at the adenine cavity of the SAM-binding pocket in DNMT3B. Our kinetics assays confirm that harmine competes with SAM to competitively inhibit DNMT3B-3L activity with a Ki of 6.6 µM. Cell-based studies further show that harmine treatment inhibits castration-resistant prostate cancer cell (CRPC) proliferation with an IC50 of ∼14 µM. The CPRC cells treated with harmine resulted in reactivating silenced hypermethylated genes compared to the untreated cells, and harmine cooperated with an androgen antagonist, bicalutamide, to effectively inhibit the proliferation of CRPC cells. Our study thus reveals, for the first time, the inhibitory mechanism of harmine on DNMTs and highlights new strategies for developing novel DNMT inhibitors for cancer treatment.

Matriptase-2/NR4A3 axis switches TGF-ß action toward suppression of prostate cancer cell invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis.

Dysregulation of pericellular proteolysis is strongly implicated in cancer metastasis through alteration of cell invasion and the microenvironment. Matriptase-2 (MT-2) is a membrane-anchored serine protease which can suppress prostate cancer (PCa) cell invasion. In this study, we showed that MT-2 was down-regulated in PCa and could suppress PCa cell motility, tumor growth, and metastasis. Using microarray and biochemical analysis, we found that MT-2 shifted TGF-ß action towards its tumor suppressor function by repressing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and promoting Smad2 phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation to upregulate two TGF-ß1 downstream effectors (p21 and PAI-1), culminating in hindrance of PCa cell motility and malignant growth. Mechanistically, MT-2 could dramatically up-regulate the expression of nuclear receptor NR4A3 via iron metabolism in PCa cells. MT-2-induced NR4A3 further coactivated Smad2 to activate p21 and PAI-1 expression. In addition, NR4A3 functioned as a suppressor of PCa and mediated MT-2 signaling to inhibit PCa tumorigenesis and metastasis. These results together indicate that NR4A3 sustains MT-2 signaling to suppress PCa cell invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis, and serves as a contextual factor for the TGF-ß/Smad2 signaling pathway in favor of tumor suppression via promoting p21 and PAI-1 expression.

The central role of Sphingosine kinase 1 in the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC): A new targeted therapy of NEPC.

BACKGROUND: Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is often diagnosed as a sub-type from the castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) recurred from the second generation of anti-androgen treatment and is a rapidly progressive fatal disease. The molecular mechanisms underlying the trans-differentiation from CRPC to NEPC are not fully characterized, which hampers the development of effective targeted therapy. METHODS: Bioinformatic analyses were conducted to determine the clinical correlation of sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) in CRPC progression. To investigate the transcriptional regulation SphK1 and neuroendocrine (NE) transcription factor genes, both chromosome immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter gene assays were performed. To demonstrate the role of SphK1 in NEPC development, neurosphere assay was carried out along with several biomarkers determined by quantitative PCR and western blot. Furthermore, in vivo NEPC xenograft models and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model were employed to determine the effect of SphK1 inhibitors and target validation. RESULTS: Significant prevalence of SphK1 in NEPC development is observed from clinical datasets. SphK1 is transcriptionally repressed by androgen receptor-RE1-silencing transcription factor (REST) complex. Furthermore, sphingosine 1-phosphate produced by SphK1 can modulate REST protein turnover via MAPK signaling pathway. Also, decreased REST protein levels enhance the expression of NE markers in CRPC, enabling the transition to NEPC. Finally, specific SphK1 inhibitors can effectively inhibit the growth of NEPC tumors and block the REST protein degradation in PDX. CONCLUSIONS: SphK1 plays a central role in NEPC development, which offers a new target for this lethal cancer using clinically approved SphK1 inhibitors.

Afatinib Exerts Immunomodulatory Effects by Targeting the Pyrimidine Biosynthesis Enzyme CAD.

Current clinical trials of combined EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies show no additional effect. This raises questions regarding whether EGFR-TKIs attenuate ICB-enhanced CD8+ T lymphocyte function. Here we show that the EGFR-TKI afatinib suppresses CD8+ T lymphocyte proliferation, and we identify CAD, a key enzyme of de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis, to be a novel afatinib target. Afatinib reduced tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte numbers in Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC)-bearing mice. Early afatinib treatment inhibited CD8+ T lymphocyte proliferation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, but their proliferation unexpectedly rebounded following long-term treatment. This suggests a transient immunomodulatory effect of afatinib on CD8+ T lymphocytes. Sequential treatment of afatinib with anti-PD1 immunotherapy substantially enhanced therapeutic efficacy in MC38 and LLC-bearing mice, while simultaneous combination therapy showed only marginal improvement over each single treatment. These results suggest that afatinib can suppress CD8+ T lymphocyte proliferation by targeting CAD, proposing a timing window for combined therapy that may prevent the dampening of ICB efficacy by EGFR-TKIs. SIGNIFICANCE: This study elucidates a mechanism of afatinib-mediated immunosuppression and provides new insights into treatment timing for combined targeted therapy and immunotherapy. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/81/12/3270/F1.large.jpg.

Inhibition of TMPRSS2 by HAI-2 reduces prostate cancer cell invasion and metastasis.

TMPRSS2 is an important membrane-anchored serine protease involved in human prostate cancer progression and metastasis. A serine protease physiologically often comes together with a cognate inhibitor for execution of proteolytically biologic function; however, TMPRSS2's cognate inhibitor is still elusive. To identify the cognate inhibitor of TMPRSS2, in this study, we applied co-immunoprecipitation and LC/MS/MS analysis and isolated hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitors (HAIs) to be potential inhibitor candidates for TMPRSS2. Moreover, the recombinant HAI-2 proteins exhibited a better inhibitory effect on TMPRSS2 proteolytic activity than HAI-1, and recombinant HAI-2 proteins had a high affinity to form a complex with TMPRSS2. The immunofluorescence images further showed that TMPRSS2 was co-localized to HAI-2. Both KD1 and KD2 domain of HAI-2 showed comparable inhibitory effects on TMPRSS2 proteolytic activity. In addition, HAI-2 overexpression could suppress the induction effect of TMPRSS2 on pro-HGF activation, extracellular matrix degradation and prostate cancer cell invasion. We further determined that the expression levels of TMPRSS2 were inversely correlated with HAI-2 levels during prostate cancer progression. In orthotopic xenograft animal model, TMPRSS2 overexpression promoted prostate cancer metastasis, and HAI-2 overexpression efficiently blocked TMPRSS2-induced metastasis. In summary, the results together indicate that HAI-2 can function as a cognate inhibitor for TMPRSS2 in human prostate cancer cells and may serve as a potential factor to suppress TMPRSS2-mediated malignancy.

Author Correction: The Kunitz Domain I of Hepatocyte Growth Factor Activator Inhibitor-2 Inhibits Matriptase Activity and Invasive Ability of Human Prostate Cancer Cells.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Activation of sphingosine kinase by lipopolysaccharide promotes prostate cancer cell invasion and metastasis via SphK1/S1PR4/matriptase.

Gram-negative bacteria have been found to be a major population in prostatitis and prostate cancer (PCa) tissues. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a major compound of Gram-negative bacteria, with stimulatory activities in some cancer types, but has not been fully studied in PCa. In this study, we examined the effect of LPS on the invasion of PCa cells. Interestingly, LPS can enhance the invasiveness of PCa, but had no significant effect on PCa cell viability. Using protease inhibitor screening and biochemical analyses, matriptase, a member of the membrane-anchored serine protease family, is found to play a key role in LPS-induced PCa cell invasion. Mechanistically, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4, LPS receptor)-sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) signaling underlies LPS-induced matriptase activation and PCa cell invasion. Specifically, LPS induced the S225 phosphorylation of SphK1 and the translocation of SphK1 to plasma membrane, leading to the production of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), ERK1/2 and matriptase activation via S1P receptor 4 (S1PR4). This phenomenon is further validated using the patient-derived explant (PDE) model. Indeed, there is a significant correlation among the elevated SphK1 levels, the Gleason grades of PCa specimens, and the poor survival of PCa patients. Taken together, this study demonstrates a potential impact of LPS on PCa progression. Our results provide not only a new finding of the role of bacterial infection in PCa progression but also potential therapeutic target(s) associated with PCa metastasis.

HAI-2 as a novel inhibitor of plasmin represses lung cancer cell invasion and metastasis.

BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of pericellular proteolysis usually accounts for cancer cell invasion and metastasis. Isolation of a cell-surface protease system for lung cancer metastasis is an important issue for mechanistic studies and therapeutic target identification. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry of a tissue array (n = 64) and TCGA database (n = 255) were employed to assess the correlation between serine protease inhibitors (SPIs) and lung adenocarcinoma progression. The role of SPI in cell motility was examined using transwell assays. Pulldown and LC/MS/MS were performed to identify the SPI-modulated novel protease(s). A xenografted mouse model was harnessed to demonstrate the role of the SPI in lung cancer metastasis. RESULTS: Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor-2 (HAI-2) was identified to be downregulated following lung cancer progression, which was related to poor survival and tumour invasion. We further isolated a serum-derived serine protease, plasmin, to be a novel target of HAI-2. Downregulation of HAI-2 promotes cell surface plasmin activity, EMT, and cell motility. HAI-2 can suppress plasmin-mediated activations of HGF and TGF-ß1, EMT and cell invasion. In addition, downregulated HAI-2 increased metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma via upregulating plasmin activity. CONCLUSION: HAI-2 functions as a novel inhibitor of plasmin to suppress lung cancer cell motility, EMT and metastasis.

Antibody-assisted target identification reveals afatinib, an EGFR covalent inhibitor, down-regulating ribonucleotide reductase.

Afatinib, used for the first-line treatment of non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients with distinct epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, inactivates EGFR by mimicking ATP structure and forming a covalent adduct with EGFR. We developed a method to unravel potential targets of afatinib in NSCLC cells through immunoprecipitation of afatinib-labeling proteins with anti-afatinib antiserum and mass spectrometry analysis. Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) is one of target proteins of afatinib revealed by this method. Treatment of afatinib at 10-100 nM potently inhibited intracellular RNR activity in an in vitro assay using permeabilized PC-9 cells (formerly known as PC-14). PC-9 cells treated with 10 µM afatinib displayed elevated markers of DNA damage. Long-term treatment of therapeutic concentrations of afatinib in PC-9 cells caused significant decrease in protein levels of RNR subunit M2 at 1-10 nM and RNR subunit M1 at 100 nM. EGFR-null Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells treated with afatinib also showed similar effects. Afatinib repressed the upregulation of RNR subunit M2 induced by gemcitabine. Covalent modification with afatinib resulting in inhibition and protein downregulation of RNR underscores the therapeutic and off-target effects of afatinib. Afatinib may serve as a lead compound of chemotherapeutic drugs targeting RNR. This method can be widely used in the identification of potential targets of other covalent drugs.

The Kunitz Domain I of Hepatocyte Growth Factor Activator Inhibitor-2 Inhibits Matriptase Activity and Invasive Ability of Human Prostate Cancer Cells.

Dysregulation of pericellular proteolysis is often required for tumor invasion and cancer progression. It has been shown that down-regulation of hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor-2 (HAI-2) results in activation of matriptase (a membrane-anchored serine protease), human prostate cancer cell motility and tumor growth. In this study, we further characterized if HAI-2 was a cognate inhibitor for matriptase and identified which Kunitz domain of HAI-2 was required for inhibiting matriptase and human prostate cancer cell motility. Our results show that HAI-2 overexpression suppressed matriptase-induced prostate cancer cell motility. We demonstrate that HAI-2 interacts with matriptase on cell surface and inhibits matriptase proteolytic activity. Moreover, cellular HAI-2 harnesses its Kunitz domain 1 (KD1) to inhibit matriptase activation and prostate cancer cell motility although recombinant KD1 and KD2 of HAI-2 both show an inhibitory activity and interaction with matriptase protease domain. The results together indicate that HAI-2 is a cognate inhibitor of matriptase, and KD1 of HAI-2 plays a major role in the inhibition of cellular matritptase activation as well as human prostate cancer invasion.

The Role and Mechanism of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Prostate Cancer Progression.

In prostate cancer (PCa), similar to many other cancers, distant organ metastasis symbolizes the beginning of the end disease, which eventually leads to cancer death. Many mechanisms have been identified in this process that can be rationalized into targeted therapy. Among them, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is originally characterized as a critical step for cell trans-differentiation during embryo development and now recognized in promoting cancer cells invasiveness because of high mobility and migratory abilities of mesenchymal cells once converted from carcinoma cells. Nevertheless, the underlying pathways leading to EMT appear to be very diverse in different cancer types, which certainly represent a challenge for developing effective intervention. In this article, we have carefully reviewed the key factors involved in EMT of PCa with clinical correlation in hope to facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategy that is expected to reduce the disease mortality.

Natural Endogenous Human Matriptase and Prostasin Undergo Zymogen Activation via Independent Mechanisms in an Uncoupled Manner.

The membrane-associated serine proteases matriptase and prostasin are believed to function in close partnership. Their zymogen activation has been reported to be tightly coupled, either as a matriptase-initiated proteolytic cascade or through a mutually dependent mechanism involving the formation of a reciprocal zymogen activation complex. Here we show that this putative relationship may not apply in the context of human matriptase and prostasin. First, the tightly coupled proteolytic cascade between matriptase and prostasin might not occur when modest matriptase activation is induced by sphingosine 1-phospahte in human mammary epithelial cells. Second, prostasin is not required and/or involved in matriptase autoactivation because matriptase can undergo zymogen activation in cells that do not endogenously express prostasin. Third, matriptase is not required for and/or involved in prostasin activation, since activated prostasin can be detected in cells expressing no endogenous matriptase. Finally, matriptase and prostasin both undergo zymogen activation through an apparently un-coupled mechanism in cells endogenously expressing both proteases, such as in Caco-2 cells. In these human enterocytes, matriptase is detected primarily in the zymogen form and prostasin predominantly as the activated form, either in complexes with protease inhibitors or as the free active form. The negligible levels of prostasin zymogen with high levels of matriptase zymogen suggests that the reciprocal zymogen activation complex is likely not the mechanism for matriptase zymogen activation. Furthermore, high level prostasin activation still occurs in Caco-2 variants with reduced or absent matriptase expression, indicating that matriptase is not required and/or involved in prostasin zymogen activation. Collectively, these data suggest that any functional relationship between natural endogenous human matriptase and prostasin does not occur at the level of zymogen activation.

Ketamine Increases Permeability and Alters Epithelial Phenotype of Renal Distal Tubular Cells via a GSK-3ß-Dependent Mechanism.

Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, is misused and abused worldwide as an illegal recreational drug. In addition to its neuropathic toxicity, ketamine abuse has numerous effects, including renal failure; however, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. The process called epithelial phenotypic changes (EPCs) causes the loss of cell-cell adhesion and cell polarity in renal diseases, as well as the acquisition of migratory and invasive properties. Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, an in vitro cell model, were subjected to experimental manipulation to investigate whether ketamine could promote EPCs. Our data showed that ketamine dramatically decreased transepithelial electrical resistance and increased paracellular permeability and junction disruption, which were coupled to decreased levels of apical junctional proteins (ZO-1, occludin, and E-cadherin). Consistent with the downregulation of epithelial markers, the mesenchymal markers N-cadherin, fibronectin, and vimentin were markedly upregulated following ketamine stimulation. Of the E-cadherin repressor complexes tested, the mRNA levels of Snail, Slug, Twist, and ZEB1 were elevated. Moreover, ketamine significantly enhanced migration and invasion. Ketamine-mediated changes were at least partly caused by the inhibition of GSK-3ß activity through Ser-9 phosphorylation by the PI3K/Akt pathway. Inhibiting PI3K/Akt with LY294002 reactivated GSK-3ß and suppressed ketamine-enhanced permeability, EPCs, and motility. These findings were recapitulated by the inactivation of GSK-3ß using the inhibitor 3F8. Taken together, these results provide evidence that ketamine induces renal distal tubular EPCs through the downregulation of several junction proteins, the upregulation of mesenchymal markers, the activation of Akt, and the inactivation of GSK-3ß.

N-Glycan Branching Affects the Subcellular Distribution of and Inhibition of Matriptase by HAI-2/Placental Bikunin.

The gene product of SPINT 2, that encodes a transmembrane, Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor independently designated as HAI-2 or placenta bikunin (PB), is involved in regulation of sodium absorption in human gastrointestinal track. Here, we show that SPINT 2 is expressed as two species of different size (30-40- versus 25-kDa) due to different N-glycans on Asn-57. The N-glycan on 25-kDa HAI-2 appears to be of the oligomannose type and that on 30-40-kDa HAI-2 to be of complex type with extensive terminal N-acetylglucosamine branching. The two different types of N-glycan differentially mask two epitopes on HAI-2 polypeptide, recognized by two different HAI-2 mAbs. The 30-40-kDa form may be mature HAI-2, and is primarily localized in vesicles/granules. The 25-kDa form is likely immature HAI-2, that remains in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in the perinuclear regions of mammary epithelial cells. The two different N-glycans could, therefore, represent different maturation stages of N-glycosylation with the 25-kDa likely a precursor of the 30-40-kDa HAI-2, with the ratio of their levels roughly similar among a variety of cells. In breast cancer cells, a significant amount of the 30-40-kDa HAI-2 can translocate to and inhibit matriptase on the cell surface, followed by shedding of the matriptase-HAI-2 complex. The 25-kDa HAI-2 appears to have also exited the ER/Golgi, being localized at the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane of breast cancer cells. While the 25-kDa HAI-2 was also detected at the extracellular face of plasma membrane at very low levels it appears to have no role in matriptase inhibition probably due to its paucity on the cell surface. Our study reveals that N-glycan branching regulates HAI-2 through different subcellular distribution and subsequently access to different target proteases.

Androgen-Induced TMPRSS2 Activates Matriptase and Promotes Extracellular Matrix Degradation, Prostate Cancer Cell Invasion, Tumor Growth, and Metastasis.

Dysregulation of androgen signaling and pericellular proteolysis is necessary for prostate cancer progression, but the links between them are still obscure. In this study, we show how the membrane-anchored serine protease TMPRSS2 stimulates a proteolytic cascade that mediates androgen-induced prostate cancer cell invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis. We found that matriptase serves as a substrate for TMPRSS2 in mediating this proinvasive action of androgens in prostate cancer. Further, we determined that higher levels of TMPRSS2 expression correlate with higher levels of matriptase activation in prostate cancer tissues. Lastly, we found that the ability of TMPRSS2 to promote prostate cancer tumor growth and metastasis was associated with increased matriptase activation and enhanced degradation of extracellular matrix nidogen-1 and laminin ß1 in tumor xenografts. In summary, our results establish that TMPRSS2 promotes the growth, invasion, and metastasis of prostate cancer cells via matriptase activation and extracellular matrix disruption, with implications to target these two proteases as a strategy to treat prostate cancer.

Lysophosphatidic acid induces reactive oxygen species generation by activating protein kinase C in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells.

Prostate cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in males, and PC-3 is a cell model popularly used for investigating the behavior of late stage prostate cancer. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a lysophospholipid that mediates multiple behaviors in cancer cells, such as proliferation, migration and adhesion. We have previously demonstrated that LPA enhances vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C expression in PC-3 cells by activating the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is known to be an important mediator in cancer progression. Using flow cytometry, we showed that LPA triggers ROS generation within 10min and that the generated ROS can be suppressed by pretreatment with the NADPH oxidase (Nox) inhibitor diphenylene iodonium. In addition, transfection with LPA1 and LPA3 siRNA efficiently blocked LPA-induced ROS production, suggesting that both receptors are involved in this pathway. Using specific inhibitors and siRNA, phospholipase C (PLC) and protein kinase C (PKC) were also suggested to participate in LPA-induced ROS generation. Overall, we demonstrated that LPA induces ROS generation in PC-3 prostate cancer cells and this is mediated through the PLC/PKC/Nox pathway.

Curcumin-targeting pericellular serine protease matriptase role in suppression of prostate cancer cell invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis.

Curcumin has been shown to possess potent chemopreventive and antitumor effects on prostate cancer. However, the molecular mechanism involved in curcumin's ability to suppress prostate cancer cell invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis is not yet well understood. In this study, we have shown that curcumin can suppress epidermal growth factor (EGF)- stimulated and heregulin-stimulated PC-3 cell invasion, as well as androgen-induced LNCaP cell invasion. Curcumin treatment significantly resulted in reduced matrix metalloproteinase 9 activity and downregulation of cellular matriptase, a membrane-anchored serine protease with oncogenic roles in tumor formation and invasion. Our data further show that curcumin is able to inhibit the induction effects of androgens and EGF on matriptase activation, as well as to reduce the activated levels of matriptase after its overexpression, thus suggesting that curcumin may interrupt diverse signal pathways to block the protease. Furthermore, the reduction of activated matriptase in cells by curcumin was also partly due to curcumin's effect on promoting the shedding of matriptase into an extracellular environment, but not via altering matriptase gene expression. In addition, curcumin significantly suppressed the invasive ability of prostate cancer cells induced by matriptase overexpression. In xenograft model, curcumin not only inhibits prostate cancer tumor growth and metastasis but also downregulates matriptase activity in vivo. Overall, the data indicate that curcumin exhibits a suppressive effect on prostate cancer cell invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis, at least in part via downregulating matriptase function.

Persistent elevation of hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitors in cholangiopathies affects liver fibrosis and differentiation.

UNLABELLED: Alteration of cell surface proteolysis has been proposed to play a role in liver fibrosis, a grave complication of biliary atresia (BA). In this study we investigated the roles of hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor (HAI)-1 and -2 in the progression of BA. The expression levels of HAI-1 and -2 were significantly increased in BA livers compared with those in neonatal hepatitis and correlated with disease progression. In BA livers, HAI-1 and -2 were coexpressed in cells involved in ductular reactions. In other selective cholangiopathies, ductular cells positive for HAI-1 or HAI-2 also increased in number. Inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, and bile acids differentially up-regulated expression of HAI-1 and -2 transcripts in fetal liver cells and this induction could be antagonized by a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor. Conditioned media from cell lines stably overexpressing HAI-1 or HAI-2 enhanced the fibrogenic activity of portal fibroblasts and stellate cells, suggesting that both proteins might be involved in liver fibrosis. Because HAI-1 and -2 colocalized in ductular reactions sharing similar features to those observed during normal liver development, we sought to investigate the role of HAI-1 and -2 in cholangiopathies by exploring their functions in fetal liver cells. Knockdown of HAI-1 or HAI-2 promoted bidirectional differentiation of hepatoblast-derived cells. In addition, we showed that the hepatocyte growth factor activator, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathways were involved in hepatic differentiation enhanced by HAI-2 knockdown. CONCLUSION: HAI-1 and -2 are overexpressed in the liver in cholangiopathies with ductular reactions and are possibly involved in liver fibrosis and hepatic differentiation; they could be investigated as disease markers and potential therapeutic targets.

Suppression of free fatty acid-induced insulin resistance by phytopolyphenols in C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cells.

It was reported that increased plasma levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) are associated with profound insulin resistance in skeletal muscle and may also play a critical role in the insulin resistance of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Skeletal muscle is the major site for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and is involved in energy regulation and homeostasis. In this study, we used 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), a protein kinase C (PKC) activator, and palmitate to induce insulin resistance in C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cells. Our data show that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and curcumin treatment reduce insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) Ser307 phosphorylation, and curcumin is more potent to increase Akt phosphorylation in TPA induction. Moreover, we found that after 5 h of palmitate incubation, epicatechin gallate (ECG) can suppress IRS-1 Ser307 phosphorylation and significantly promote Akt, ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, and AMP-activated protein kinase activation. With a longer incubation with palmitate, IRS-1 exhibited a dramatic depletion, and treatment with EGCG, ECG, and curcumin could reverse IRS-1 expression, Akt phosphorylation, and MAPK signaling cascade activation and improve glucose uptake in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells, especially ECG and curcumin. In addition, treatment with these polyphenols can suppress acetyl-CoA carboxylase activation, but only EGCG could inhibit lipid accumulation in the intracellular site. These findings may suggest that curcumin shows the best capacity to improve FFA-induced insulin resistance than the other two, and ECG was more effective than EGCG in attenuating insulin resistance.