Emerging evidence from basic, translational and clinical studies has shown the significance of the HGF/c-Met signaling pathway in prostate cancer progression and CRPC development. The hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) plays a critical role through its receptor c-Met in the regulation of cell growth, cell motility, morphogenesis, and angiogenesis. The HGF and c-Met axis is a significant contributor to epithelial-stromal interactions, which directly contributes to prostate cancer progression and metastasis. Up-regulation of c-Met expression has been observed in most metastatic prostate cancer lesions. Interestingly, despite the high incidence of c-Met expression in prostate cancer, c-Met amplification was only observed in about 10% of metastatic prostate cancers, suggesting other regulatory mechanisms underlying aberrant expression of c-Met. The benchwork done in my lab has demonstrated a novel role of AR as a transcriptional repressor in c-Met expression in prostate cancer cells. Our finding not only elucidates an aberrant regulation of c-Met expression in prostate cancer cells, but also implicates a novel mechanism by which current androgen ablation therapy induces CRPC development. While current androgen ablation therapy suppresses activation of the growth promoting gene expression induced by the AR, it also attenuates AR repression of c-Met expression, resulting in an increase of c-Met in tumor cells. Since overexpression of c-Met directly correlates with more aggressive prostate tumor phenotypes, adding c-Met inhibitors to current androgen ablation monotherapy may improve clinical outcomes, and delay and prevent CRPC development. Thus, in this amended R01 application, we propose three unique but integrated specific aims to directly test our central hypothesis: Inhibition of androgen action through current androgen ablation therapy increases c-Met expression thereby promoting tumor invasion, hormone refractoriness, and metastasis, and combined inhibition of AR and c-Met oncogenic pathways can prevent or delay CRPC development. This timely study seeks to break new ground and change current paradigms for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Data generated from this study should provide critical and necessary scientific evidence for clinical intervention of lethal CRPC to improve survival rates for hundreds of thousands of men.

Public Health Relevance

In this study, we will investigate the biological role of c-Met in prostate tumorigenesis using a diverse cohort of novel and relevant mouse models and other state-of-the-art experimental approaches. We will also assess combined inhibition of the androgen and HGF/c-Met oncogenic pathways for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project--Cooperative Agreements (U01)
Project #
5U01CA166894-02
Application #
8710098
Study Section
Tumor Progression and Metastasis Study Section (TPM)
Program Officer
Woodhouse, Elizabeth
Project Start
2013-08-01
Project End
2018-05-31
Budget Start
2014-06-01
Budget End
2015-05-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$358,782
Indirect Cost
$134,946
Name
Stanford University
Department
Urology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009214214
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94305
Lee, S H; Luong, R; Johnson, D T et al. (2016) Androgen signaling is a confounding factor for ?-catenin-mediated prostate tumorigenesis. Oncogene 35:702-14
Lee, Suk Hyung; Johnson, Daniel; Luong, Richard et al. (2015) Crosstalking between androgen and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways in prostate cancer cells. J Biol Chem 290:2759-68
Lee, Suk Hyung; Johnson, Daniel T; Luong, Richard et al. (2015) Wnt/?-Catenin-Responsive Cells in Prostatic Development and Regeneration. Stem Cells 33:3356-67
Lee, Suk Hyung; Zhu, Chunfang; Peng, Yue et al. (2013) Identification of a novel role of ZMIZ2 protein in regulating the activity of the Wnt/?-catenin signaling pathway. J Biol Chem 288:35913-24