title: Downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor and induction of tumor dormancy by 15-lipoxygenase-2 in prostate cancer.
abstract: The enzyme 15-lipoxygenase-2 (15-LOX-2) utilizes arachidonic acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid, to synthesize 15(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. Abundantly expressed in normal prostate epithelium but frequently suppressed in the cancerous tissues, 15-LOX-2 has been suggested as a functional suppressor of prostate cancer, but the mechanism(s) involved remains unknown. To study the functional role of 15-LOX-2 in prostate cancer, we expressed 15-LOX-2 as a fusion protein with GFP in DU145 and PC-3 cells and found that 15-LOX-2 increased cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. When injected into athymic nu/nu mice, prostate cancer cells with 15-LOX-2 expression could still form palpable tumors without significant changes in tumorigenicity. But, the tumors with 15-LOX-2 expression grew significantly slower than those derived from vector controls and were kept dormant for a long period of time. Histological evaluation revealed an increase in cell death in tumors derived from prostate cancer cells with 15-LOX-2 expression, while in vitro cell culture conditions, no such increase in apoptosis was observed. Further studies found that the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) was significantly reduced in prostate cancer cells with 15-LOX-2 expression restored. Our studies suggest that 15-LOX-2 suppresses VEGF gene expression and sustains tumor dormancy in prostate cancer. Loss of 15-LOX-2 functionalities, therefore, represents a key step for prostate cancer cells to exit from dormancy and embark on malignant progression in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute, Springfield, IL 62794-9626, USA.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Man-Tzu
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yakun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Dianer
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Mingxin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Che
authors.forename: Kenneth V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Honn
authors.forename: Gregory D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Akers
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Daotai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D001093:Arachidonate 15-Lipoxygenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014162:Transfection; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D001093:Arachidonate 15-Lipoxygenase