title: Limited expression of cytochrome p450 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase in prostate cancer cell lines.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cytochrome P450 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase (CYP17A1) is a key enzyme in the androgen biosynthesis pathway. CYP17A1 has been focused on because of the promising results of a potent CYP17A1 inhibitor in the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). A hypothesis that intratumoral androgenesis may play a role in the progression of CRPC has recently been postulated. Thus, we evaluated whether commonly used prostate cancer cell lines express CYP17A1.
  
  
  METHODS
  Androgen-sensitive LNCaP and androgen-insensitive PC-3 and DU145 cells were used. To evaluate the expression of CYP17A1 protein and RNA, we performed Western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We were unable to detect either CYP17A1 protein or RNA in any of the cell lines tested. We failed to detect any expression of CYP17A1, despite several repetitions of these techniques under different conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of CYP17A1 protein and RNA in LNCaP, PC-3, and DU145 cells appears to be either absent or too low for detection. The mechanism of action of abiraterone acetate, a CYP17A1 inhibitor, may be related more to adrenal androgen blockade than to intratumoral androgenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Wook
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Cheol Yong
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Seong Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Sung Kyu
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Seok-Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: Sang Eun
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Lee