Abstract 5054: The interplay between Disabled-2 and protein kinase C epsilon in the regulation of prostate cancer cell survival

Abstract

Abstract Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in men in the world. Previous studies have demonstrated that Disabled-2 (DAB2) is a tumor suppressor and down-regulation of DAB2 expression is accompanied with prostate cancer progression. On the other hands, protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε) functions as an oncogene and promotes human prostate cancer cell survival upon treatment of methyseleninic acid (MSA), an anti-cancer agent that induces prostate cancer cell apoptosis. However, little is known whether there is a crosstalk between DAB2 and PKCε. In this study, we first analyzed DAB2 and PKCε protein expression in three prostate cancer cell lines DU145, PC3 and C4-2. Western blot analysis revealed that DAB2 was relatively abundant in PC3 when compared with the DU145 and C4-2 cells. In contrast, the expression of PKCε was higher in DU145 and C4-2 cells when compared with the PC3 cells. Consistent with these findings, ectopic expression of DAB2 resulted in down-regulation of PKCε. These observations implicate a reverse association of DAB2 and PKCε and suggest that DAB2 is a regulator of PKCε expression. To further explore the interplay between DAB2 and PKCε, we determined the effect of DAB2 overexpression on DU145 cell susceptibility to MSA-induced cell death. Consistent with a previous report, overexpression of PKCε increased DU145 cell survival and knockdown of PKCε by small interfering RNA augmented cell death upon treatment of MSA but not Ibupofen. Accordingly, expression of DAB2 down-regulated PKCε and increased in cell susceptibility to MSA that resulted in a 40% decrease of cell survival. These findings suggest that DAB2 modulates PKCε expression and affects prostate cancer cell susceptibility to selective anti-cancer agents. This study represents the first report to unveil the interplay between DAB2, PKCε and prostate cancer cell survival. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5054.