Metabolic Reprogramming and Predominance of Solute Carrier Genes during Acquired Enzalutamide Resistance in Prostate Cancer

• Main Authors: Shiv Verma, Eswar Shankar, E. Ricky Chan, Sanjay Gupta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Cells
• Subjects: enzalutamide resistance; castration resistant prostate cancer; metabolic reprogramming; solute carrier proteins
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/9/12/2535

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is standard-of-care for advanced-stage prostate cancer, and enzalutamide (Xtandi^®, Astellas, Northbrook, IL, USA), a second generation antiandrogen, is prescribed in this clinical setting. The response to this medication is usually temporary with the rapid emergence of drug resistance. A better understanding of gene expression changes associated with enzalutamide resistance will facilitate circumventing this problem. We compared the transcriptomic profile of paired enzalutamide-sensitive and resistant LNCaP and C4-2B prostate cancer cells for identification of genes involved in drug resistance by performing an unbiased bioinformatics analysis and further validation. Next-Gen sequencing detected 9409 and 7757 genes differentially expressed in LNCaP and C4-2B cells, compared to their parental counterparts. A subset of differentially expressed genes were validated by qRT-PCR. Analysis by the i-pathway revealed membrane transporters including solute carrier proteins, ATP-binding cassette transporters, and drug metabolizing enzymes as the most prominent genes dysregulated in resistant cell lines. RNA-Seq data demonstrated predominance of solute carrier genes <i>SLC12A5</i>, <i>SLC25A17</i>, and <i>SLC27A6</i> during metabolic reprogramming and development of drug resistance. Upregulation of these genes were associated with higher uptake of lactic/citric acid and lower glucose intake in resistant cells. Our data suggest the predominance of solute carrier genes during metabolic reprogramming of prostate cancer cells in an androgen-deprived environment, thus signifying them as potentially attractive therapeutic targets.