TBX2 Drives Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer through Exosome-Mediated Repression of miR-200c-3p.
Publication Title
Cancers (Basel)
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-7-2021
Keywords
oregon; portland; ppmc; chiles; N-MYC; SOX2; TBX2; exosomes; miR-200c-3p; treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer
Abstract
Deciphering the mechanisms that drive transdifferentiation to neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is crucial to identifying novel therapeutic strategies against this lethal and aggressive subtype of advanced prostate cancer (PCa). Further, the role played by exosomal microRNAs (miRs) in mediating signaling mechanisms that propagate the NEPC phenotype remains largely elusive. The unbiased differential miR expression profiling of human PCa cells genetically modulated for TBX2 expression led to the identification of miR-200c-3p. Our findings have unraveled the TBX2/miR-200c-3p/SOX2/N-MYC signaling axis in NEPC transdifferentiation. Mechanistically, we found that: (1) TBX2 binds to the promoter and represses the expression of miR-200c-3p, a miR reported to be lost in castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), and (2) the repression of miR-200c-3p results in the increased expression of its targets SOX2 and N-MYC. In addition, the rescue of mir-200c-3p in the context of TBX2 blockade revealed that miR-200c-3p is the critical intermediary effector in TBX2 regulation of SOX2 and N-MYC. Further, our studies show that in addition to the intracellular mode, TBX2/miR-200c-3p/SOX2/N-MYC signaling can promote NEPC transdifferentiation via exosome-mediated intercellular mechanism, an increasingly recognized and key mode of propagation of the NEPC phenotype.
Area of Special Interest
Cancer
Area of Special Interest
Kidney & Diabetes
Specialty/Research Institute
Earle A. Chiles Research Institute
Specialty/Research Institute
Oncology
Specialty/Research Institute
Endocrinology
