title: Multifaceted interaction between the androgen and Wnt signaling pathways and the implication for prostate cancer.
abstract: Androgen action in prostate and prostate cancer cells is dependent upon the androgen receptor (AR) protein that transcriptionally regulates the expression of androgen-dependent genes in the presence of a steroid ligand. Whereas the overall schema of androgen action mediated by this receptor protein appears to be relatively simple, androgen signaling is now known to be influenced by several other cell signal transduction pathways and here we review the evidence that the canonical Wnt signaling pathway also modulates androgen signaling at multiple levels. Wnt is a complex signaling pathway whose endpoint involves activation of transcription from LEF-1/TCF transcription factors and it is known to be involved in the development and progression of numerous human epithelial tumors including prostate cancer. beta-catenin protein, a particularly critical molecular component of canonical Wnt signaling is now known to promote androgen signaling through its ability to bind to the AR protein in a ligand-dependent fashion and to enhance the ability of liganded AR to activate transcription of androgen-regulated genes. Under certain conditions, glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta), a protein serine/threonine kinase that regulates beta-catenin degradation within the Wnt signaling pathway, can also phosphorylate AR and suppress its ability to activate transcription. Finally, it was recently found that the human AR gene itself is a target of LEF-1/TCF-mediated transcription and that AR mRNA is highly upregulated by activation of Wnt signaling in prostate cancer cells. Paradoxically, Wnt activation also appears to stimulate Akt activity promoting an MDM-2-mediated degradation process that reduces AR protein levels in Wnt-stimulated prostate cancer cells. Collectively, this information indicates that the multifaceted nature of the interaction between the Wnt and the androgen signaling pathways likely has numerous consequences for the development, growth, and progression of prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: INSERM E03-37, Université Paris XII, Centre de Recherches Chirurgicales, Assistance Publique des Hopitaux Paris, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: Xuezhen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Min-Wei
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vacherot
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buttyan
mesh_terms: D000728:Androgens / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D000071679:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; D006801:Humans; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009376:Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1; D011944:Receptors, Androgen; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin; C000605506:GSK3B protein, human; D000071679:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3