title: Small interfering RNA directed reversal of urokinase plasminogen activator demethylation inhibits prostate tumor growth and metastasis.
abstract: Recent studies have shown that small interfering RNA (siRNA) silences genes at the transcriptional level in human cells. However, the therapeutic potential of siRNA-mediated transcriptional gene silencing remains unclear. Here, we show that siRNA targeted to the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) promoter induced epigenetic transcriptional silencing in human prostate cancer cells. This silencing resulted in a dramatic reduction of tumor cell invasion and angiogenesis in vitro. Furthermore, the results from a bioluminescence tumor/metastasis model showed that the silencing of uPA significantly inhibits prostate tumor growth and the incidence of lung metastasis. Our findings represent a potentially powerful new approach to not only epigenetic silencing of metastasis or growth-promoting genes as a cancer therapy, but also as a means to shed light on how aberrant de novo methylation during cancer progression might be targeted to specific sequences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, One Illini Drive, Peoria, IL 61605, USA.
authors.forename: Sai Murali Krishna
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pulukuri
authors.forename: Jasti S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008745:Methylation; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism*; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator