title: Exosomes secreted under hypoxia enhance invasiveness and stemness of prostate cancer cells by targeting adherens junction molecules.
abstract: Hypoxic conditions in prostate cancer (PCA) are associated with poor prognosis; however, precise mechanism/s through which hypoxia promotes malignant phenotype remains unclear. Here, we analyzed the role of exosomes from hypoxic PCA cells in enhancing the invasiveness and stemness of naïve PCA cells, as well as in promoting cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) phenotype in prostate stromal cells (PrSC). Human PCA LNCaP and PC3 cells were exposed to hypoxic (1% O2 ) or normoxic (21% O2 ) conditions, and exosomes secreted under hypoxic (Exo(Hypoxic) ) and normoxic (Exo(Normoxic) ) conditions were isolated from conditioned media. Nanoparticle tracking analysis revealed that Exo(Hypoxic) have smaller average size as compared to Exo(Normoxic) . Immunoblotting results showed a higher level of tetraspanins (CD63 and CD81), heat shock proteins (HSP90 and HSP70), and Annexin II in Exo(Hypoxic) compared to Exo(Normoxic) . Co-culturing with Exo(Hypoxic) increased the invasiveness and motility of naïve LNCaP and PC3 cells, respectively. Exo(Hypoxic) also promoted prostasphere formation by both LNCaP and PC3 cells, and enhanced α-SMA (a CAF biomarker) expression in PrSC. Compared to Exo(Normoxic) , Exo(Hypoxic) showed higher metalloproteinases activity and increased level of diverse signaling molecules (TGF-β2, TNF1α, IL6, TSG101, Akt, ILK1, and β-catenin). Furthermore, proteome analysis revealed a higher number of proteins in Exo(Hypoxic) (160 proteins) compared to Exo(Normoxic) (62 proteins), primarily associated with the remodeling of epithelial adherens junction pathway. Importantly, Exo(Hypoxic) targeted the expression of adherens junction proteins in naïve PC3 cells. These findings suggest that Exo(Hypoxic) are loaded with unique proteins that could enhance invasiveness, stemness, and induce microenvironment changes; thereby, promoting PCA aggressiveness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.|Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India.
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramteke
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.|University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Chapla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Samiha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mateen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Ranganathan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Somasagara
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India.
authors.forename: Anowar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Graner
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, Colorado.|Department of Radiation Oncology Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frederick
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.|University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado.|University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, Colorado.
authors.forename: Gagan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Deep
mesh_terms: D022005:Adherens Junctions / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D017306:Annexin A2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D055354:Exosomes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D045726:Metalloproteases / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D011467:Prostate / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D059470:Tetraspanins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017306:Annexin A2; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D059470:Tetraspanins; D045726:Metalloproteases
keywords: adherens junction; exosomes; hypoxia; invasiveness; prostate cancer