Publications (2)12.17 Total impact
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Article: Quantitative Proteomics Reveals that Enzymes of the Ketogenic Pathway are Associated with Prostate Cancer Progression.
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ABSTRACT: Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. One common treatment is androgen-deprivation therapy, which reduces symptoms in most patients. However, over time, patients develop tumours that are androgen-independent and ultimately fatal. The mechanisms that cause this transition remain largely unknown, and as a result, there are no effective treatments against androgen-independent prostate cancer. As a model platform, we used the LNCaP cell line, and its androgen independent derivative, LNCaP-SF. Utilizing stable isotope labelling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) coupled to mass spectrometry, we assessed the differential global protein expression between the two cell lines. Our proteomic analysis resulted in the quantification of 3355 proteins. Bioinformatic prioritization resulted in 42 up-regulated and 46 down-regulated proteins in LNCaP-SF cells, compared to LNCaP cells. Our top candidate, HMGCS2, an enzyme involved in ketogenesis, was found to be 9-fold elevated in LNCaP-SF cells, based on peptide ratios. After analyzing the remaining enzymes of this pathway (ACAT1, BDH1, HMGCL, OXCT1), we observed increased expression of these proteins in the LNCaP-SF cells, which were further verified using western blotting. To determine whether these enzymes are up-regulated in clinical samples, we performed qPCR and immunohistochemistry on human prostate cancer tissues, from which we observed significantly increased transcript and protein levels in high grade cancer (Gleason Grade ≥8). In addition, we observed significant elevation these enzymes in the LuCaP 96AI castration-resistant xenograft. Further assessment of ACAT1 on human castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer tissues revealed substantially elevated expression of ACAT1 in these specimens. Taken together, our results indicate that enzymes of the ketogenic pathway are up-regulated in high grade prostate cancer, and could serve as potential tissue biomarkers for diagnosis or prognosis of high grade disease.Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 02/2013; · 7.40 Impact Factor -
Article: Proteomic Profiling of Androgen-independent Prostate Cancer Cell Lines Reveals a Role for Protein S during the Development of High Grade and Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer.
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ABSTRACT: Androgen deprivation constitutes the principal therapy for advanced and metastatic prostate cancers. However, this therapeutic intervention usually results in the transition to a more aggressive androgen-independent prostate cancer. The elucidation of molecular alterations during the progression to androgen independence is an integral step toward discovering more effective targeted therapies. With respect to identifying crucial mediators of this transition, we compared the proteomes of androgen-independent (PC3, DU145, PPC1, LNCaP-SF, and 22Rv1) and androgen-dependent (LNCaP and VCaP) and/or normal prostate epithelial (RWPE) cell lines using mass spectrometry. We identified more than 100 proteins that were differentially secreted in the androgen-independent cell lines. Of these, Protein S (PROS1) was elevated in the secretomes of all of the androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines, with no detectable secretion in normal and androgen-dependent cell lines. Using quantitative PCR, we observed significantly higher (p < 0.05) tissue expression levels of PROS1 in prostate cancer samples, further indicating its importance in prostate cancer progression. Similarly, immunohistochemistry analysis revealed elevation of PROS1 in high grade prostate cancer (Gleason grade ≥8), and further elevation in castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer lesions. We also observed its significant (p < 0.05) elevation in high grade prostate cancer seminal plasma samples. Taken together, these results show that PROS1 is elevated in high grade and castration-resistant prostate cancer and could serve as a potential biomarker of aggressive disease.Journal of Biological Chemistry 08/2012; 287(41):34019-31. · 4.77 Impact Factor