Neuronal Molecule Makes Prostate Cancer More Aggressive
Researchers discover a potential therapeutic avenue against an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among American men. Now, researchers have discovered key molecular players that drive prostate cancer to progress into a highly aggressive form of the disease called neuroendocrine prostate cancer that currently has no effective treatment. The finding uncovers new avenues to explore for therapeutics to treat neuroendocrine prostate cancer.
“We have found novel pathways that promote neuroendocrine prostate cancer,” says senior author Lucia R. Languino, PhD, a professor in the department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Cancer Biology and director of the Genetics, Genomics, and Cancer Biology PhD Program at Thomas Jefferson University. She and her team published the new research in the journal Scientific Reports.
Adenocarcinoma prostate cancers can progress into neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Until now, how this transition occurs has been a mystery.
To better understand how neuroendocrine prostate cancer develops, Dr. Languino and colleagues looked for biomarkers of the disease. In previous work, they discovered that a molecule known as aVb3 integrin is abundant in mice and humans with neuroendocrine prostate cancer, but missing in prostate adenocarcinoma.
To look for molecules unique to neuroendocrine prostate cancer, the researchers found that aVb3 integrin expression in prostate cancer cells bumped up the expression of a known marker of neuroendocrine prostate cancer and significantly increased the expression of a molecule called Nogo receptor 2 (NgR2).
The finding “was a big discovery,” Dr. Languino says, who is also a researcher with the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center – Jefferson Health. That’s because NgR2 is a protein found in nerve cells, where it contributes to neuronal functions. It has never before been studied in cancer, of any kind.
Dr. Languino and her colleagues wanted to find out what this molecule, a neuronal protein, is doing in cancer.
An initial experiment revealed that NgR2 binds the aVb3 integrin. The scientists also saw that in mice with neuroendocrine prostate tumors, aVb3 integrin and NgR2 were both present in the primary tumor and in cancerous lesions that had formed in the lungs of the animals. A follow-up experiment made it clear that both aVb3 integrin and NgR2 are necessary for neuroendocrine prostate cancers.
When Dr. Languino and her team lowered the amount of NgR2 in neuroendocrine prostate cancer cells, neuroendocrine markers also decreased. The results suggest that NgR2 plays a role in the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Lowering the amount of NgR2 also reduced the ability of cancer cells to grow and move, indicating that NgR2 may have a hand in cancer spreading to other parts of the body, in a process known as metastasis. Metastases are often what make cancers fatal.
“These two molecules, aVb3 integrin and NgR2, seem to create a combination that is lethal,” Dr. Languino says.
She and her colleagues are now looking for a molecule or antibody that would block the effect of NgR2, or the aVb3 integrin/NgR2 complex, to inhibit their ability to promote neuroendocrine prostate cancer growth and development, and make the cancer more susceptible to therapy.
News
Study Shows Brain Signals Only Matter if They Arrive on Time
Signals are processed only if they reach the brain during brief receptive cycles. This timing mechanism explains how attention filters information and may inform therapies and brain-inspired technologies. It has long been recognized that [...]
Does Space-Time Really Exist?
Is time something that flows — or just an illusion? Exploring space-time as either a fixed “block universe” or a dynamic fabric reveals deeper mysteries about existence, change, and the very nature of reality. [...]
Unlocking hidden soil microbes for new antibiotics
Most bacteria cannot be cultured in the lab-and that's been bad news for medicine. Many of our frontline antibiotics originated from microbes, yet as antibiotic resistance spreads and drug pipelines run dry, the soil [...]
By working together, cells can extend their senses beyond their direct environment
The story of the princess and the pea evokes an image of a highly sensitive young royal woman so refined, she can sense a pea under a stack of mattresses. When it comes to [...]
Overworked Brain Cells May Hold the Key to Parkinson’s
Scientists at Gladstone Institutes uncovered a surprising reason why dopamine-producing neurons, crucial for smooth body movements, die in Parkinson’s disease. In mice, when these neurons were kept overactive for weeks, they began to falter, [...]
Old tires find new life: Rubber particles strengthen superhydrophobic coatings against corrosion
Development of highly robust superhydrophobic anti-corrosion coating using recycled tire rubber particles. Superhydrophobic materials offer a strategy for developing marine anti-corrosion materials due to their low solid-liquid contact area and low surface energy. However, [...]
This implant could soon allow you to read minds
Mind reading: Long a science fiction fantasy, today an increasingly concrete scientific goal. Researchers at Stanford University have succeeded in decoding internal language in real time thanks to a brain implant and artificial intelligence. [...]
A New Weapon Against Cancer: Cold Plasma Destroys Hidden Tumor Cells
Cold plasma penetrates deep into tumors and attacks cancer cells. Short-lived molecules were identified as key drivers. Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), working with colleagues from Greifswald University Hospital and [...]
This Common Sleep Aid May Also Protect Your Brain From Alzheimer’s
Lemborexant and similar sleep medications show potential for treating tau-related disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that a commonly used sleep medication can restore normal sleep patterns and [...]
Sugar-Coated Nanoparticles Boost Cancer Drug Efficacy
A team of researchers at the University of Mississippi has discovered that coating cancer treatment carrying nanoparticles in a sugar-like material increases their treatment efficacy. They reported their findings in Advanced Healthcare Materials. Over a tenth of breast [...]
Nanoparticle-Based Vaccine Shows Promise in Fighting Cancer
In a study published in OncoImmunology, researchers from the German Cancer Research Center and Heidelberg University have created a therapeutic vaccine that mobilizes the immune system to target cancer cells. The researchers demonstrated that virus peptides combined [...]
Quantitative imaging method reveals how cells rapidly sort and transport lipids
Lipids are difficult to detect with light microscopy. Using a new chemical labeling strategy, a Dresden-based team led by André Nadler at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) and [...]
Ancient DNA reveals cause of world’s first recorded pandemic
Scientists have confirmed that the Justinian Plague, the world’s first recorded pandemic, was caused by Yersinia pestis, the same bacterium behind the Black Death. Dating back some 1,500 years and long described in historical texts but [...]
“AI Is Not Intelligent at All” – Expert Warns of Worldwide Threat to Human Dignity
Opaque AI systems risk undermining human rights and dignity. Global cooperation is needed to ensure protection. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has changed how people interact, but it also poses a global risk to human [...]
Nanomotors: Where Are They Now?
First introduced in 2004, nanomotors have steadily advanced from a scientific curiosity to a practical technology with wide-ranging applications. This article explores the key developments, recent innovations, and major uses of nanomotors today. A [...]
Study Finds 95% of Tested Beers Contain Toxic “Forever Chemicals”
Researchers found PFAS in 95% of tested beers, with the highest levels linked to contaminated local water sources. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), better known as forever chemicals, are gaining notoriety for their ability [...]
