Prostate Cell News Volume 8.22 | Jun 16 2017

TOP STORY

ERF Mutations Reveal a Balance of ETS Factors Controlling Prostate Oncogenesis

Researchers report that ERF loss recapitulates the morphological and phenotypic features of ERG gain in normal mouse prostate cells, including expansion of the androgen receptor transcriptional repertoire, and ERF has tumor suppressor activity in the same genetic background of Pten loss that yields oncogenic activity by ERG. [Nature] Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

LABORATORY RESEARCH

ACK1/TNK2 Regulates Histone H4 Tyr88-Phosphorylation and AR Gene Expression in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Reversal of the pY88-H4 epigenetic marks by the ACK1 inhibitor (R)-9bMS-sensitized naive and enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer cells and reduced androgen receptor (AR) and AR-V7 levels to mitigate castration-resistant prostate cancer tumor growth. [Cancer Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

A Rare Castration-Resistant Progenitor Cell Population Is Highly Enriched in Pten-Null Prostate Tumors

The authors investigated the prevalence and castration-resistance of LSC^med in various mouse models of prostate tumorigenesis. LSC^med prevalence was low in Hi-Myc mice where prostatic androgen receptor signaling was unaltered, but was significantly higher in two other models where androgen receptor signaling was decreased, rising up to >80% in Pten^pc−/− prostates. [J Pathol] Abstract

FOXA2 Is a Sensitive and Specific Marker for Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Prostate

Scientists verified the expression of FOXA2 in human prostate cancer cell lines and xenografts, patient biopsy specimens, tissue microarrays of prostate cancers with lymph node metastasis, primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, and metastatic treatment-related small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma and cases from a rapid autopsy program. [Mod Pathol] Abstract

Biogenic Selenium Nanoparticles Induce ROS-Mediated Necroptosis in PC-3 Cancer Cells through TNF Activation

Researchers showed that selenium nanoparticles at a concentration of 2 µg Se/ml were able to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated necroptosis in PC-3 cells by gaining cellular internalization. [J Nanobiotechnology] Full Article

Asymmetric 1,5-Diarylpenta-1,4-Dien-3-Ones: Antiproliferative Activity in Prostate Epithelial Cell Models and Pharmacokinetic Studies

To further engineer dienones with optimal combinations of potency and bioavailability, 34 asymmetric 1,5-diarylpenta-1,4-dien-3-ones were designed and synthesized for the evaluation of their in vitro anti-proliferative activity in three human prostate cancer cell lines and one non-neoplastic prostate epithelial cell line. [Eur J Med Chem] Abstract

Combination of p53-DC Vaccine and rAd-p53 Gene Therapy Induced CTLs Cytotoxic against p53-Deleted Human Prostate Cancer Cells In Vitro

Researchers evaluated the feasibility of combining p53-DC vaccine and rAd-p53 gene therapy, using the p53-overexpressing and non-expressing prostate cancer cells in vitro. [Cancer Gene Ther] Abstract

Antiproliferative Activity of 8-Methoxypsoralen on DU145 Prostate Cancer Cells under UVA and Blue Light

Investigators indicated that blue light, besides UVA, is able to activate 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP). When compared to UVA, blue light irradiation led to a modulation of the extent and the types of 8-MOP-DNA damage, specially cross-links, coupled to a still valuable antiproliferative effect. [Photochem Photobiol Sci] Abstract

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Abiraterone plus Prednisone in Metastatic, Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer

Investigators evaluated the clinical benefit of abiraterone acetate plus prednisone with androgen-deprivation therapy in patients with newly diagnosed, metastatic, castration-sensitive prostate cancer. [N Engl J Med] Abstract

The Role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma in Prostate Cancer

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) was originally thought to act as a tumor suppressor in prostate cells because agonist ligands inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cells; however, additional studies found that PPARγ agonists inhibit cell growth independent of PPARγ. [Asian J Androl] Full Article

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Abiraterone Acetate Provided Significant Clinical Benefit in Patients with High-Risk Metastatic Hormone-Naïve Prostate Cancer (mHNPC), Improving Overall Survival and Radiographic Progression-Free Survival

Janssen Research & Development, LLC announced data from the pivotal Phase III LATITUDE clinical trial, which showed ZYTIGA^® plus prednisone, in combination with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival and significantly prolonged radiographic progression-free survival in patients with high-risk metastatic hormone-naïve prostate cancer compared to placebo plus ADT. [Janssen Research & Development, LLC] Press Release

Astellas and Pfizer Announce Amendment to Clinical Research Protocol for Phase III PROSPER Trial of Enzalutamide in Patients with Non-Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Astellas Pharma Inc. and Pfizer Inc. announced the amendment of the protocol for the registrational PROSPER trial, a multi-national, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of XTANDI^® in patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. [Pfizer Inc.] Press Release

Modra Pharmaceuticals Announces Start of Phase II Study for its Lead Oral Chemotherapy in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Modra Pharmaceuticals announced the initiation and the inclusion of the first patients in a Phase II study of its lead compound, ModraDoc006/r, in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients to investigate its safety, feasibility and pharmacokinetic profile. [Modra Pharmaceuticals] Press Release

Biologists Debate How to License Preprints

Biology’s zeal for preprints — papers posted online before peer review — is opening up a thorny legal debate: should scientists license their manuscripts on open-access terms? Researchers have now shared more than 11,000 papers at the popular bioRxiv preprints site. But where some researchers allow their bioRxiv manuscripts to be freely redistributed and reused, others have chosen to lock them down with restrictive terms. [Nature News] Editorial

Indian Research Labs Face Financial Crisis

India’s 38 premier scientific laboratories are in a budgetary pinch. A jump in expenditures on salaries, pensions, and perks for government employees, recommended by an advisory commission, is leaving little money for new research in the budget of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, based in New Delhi, which oversees the labs and their 4600 scientists. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Texas Has Sanctioned Unapproved Stem Cell Therapies. Will it Change Anything?

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill allowing clinics and companies in the state to offer people unproven stem cell interventions without the testing and approval required under federal law. Like the “right to try” laws that have sprung up in more than 30 states, the measure is meant to give desperately ill patients access to experimental treatments without oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW Prostate Cancer: Advances in Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research
December 2-5, 2017
Orlando, Florida, United States

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NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Epigenetics and Epigenomics (Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute)

NEW Postdoctoral Fellows – Cancer Research (Institute of Oncology Research)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Prostate Cancer and Head & Neck Cancer (University of Maryland)

Assistant Member – Prostate Cancer (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Drug Discovery (The Vancouver Prostate Centre)

Research Associate – Prostate Cancer (Meharry Medical College)

Assistant Professor – Prostate Cancer, Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention, Advanced Tissue Imaging (University of Illinois at Chicago)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Androgen Action in Prostate Cancer (Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Translational Prostate Cancer Research (Weill Cornell Medicine)

Postdoctoral Senior Fellow – Microbiology, Genetics, and Translational Prostate Cancer Research (University of Washington)

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