title: Angiotensin type 2 receptor-mediated apoptosis of human prostate cancer cells.
abstract: Angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 receptor blocking drugs have been shown to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells and delay the development of prostate cancer. Functional Ang II type 2 receptors (AT2R) are present in these cells and inhibit growth induced by epidermal growth factor. The present studies report apoptosis of prostate cancer cells induced by AT2R overexpression. A recombinant adenoviral vector expressing AT2R (Ad-G-AT2R-EGFP) was transduced into prostate cancer cells, including androgen-independent (DU145 and PC3) and androgen-dependent cell lines (LNCaP). Following AT2R transduction, apoptosis was analyzed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling staining and caspase-3 activity assays. The results indicate that increased expression of AT2R alone induced apoptosis in the prostate cancer lines, an effect that did not require Ang II. AT2R overexpression in DU145 cells induced inhibition of proliferation, a significant reduction of S-phase cells, and an enrichment of G1-phase cells. The data also indicate that overexpression of AT2R led to apoptosis via an extrinsic cell death signaling pathway that is dependent on activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, caspase-8, and caspase-3. Finally, the apoptosis induced by AT2R overexpression is partially dependent on the activation of p53, but not on p21. The observations presented here suggest that the ability of increased AT2R expression to induce apoptosis in prostate cancer cells may have potential therapeutic implications for this disease, and suggest that AT2R is a promising novel target gene for prostate cancer gene therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, College of Medicine, Box 100274, 1600 Southwest Archer Road, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0274, USA. hongwei1@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yanfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Chengyao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Leah N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Braseth
authors.forename: Yongxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Arseniy E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Shabashvili
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Katovich
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sumners
mesh_terms: D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D053181:Caspase 8 / Q000378:metabolism; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D034622:RNA Interference; D044139:Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014162:Transfection; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C493956:CDKN1A protein, human; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D044139:Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D000804:Angiotensin II; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D053148:Caspase 3; D053181:Caspase 8