Suppression of Delta(5)-androstenediol-induced androgen receptor transactivation by selective steroids in human prostate cancer cells.

H C Chang, H Miyamoto, P Marwah, H Lardy, S Yeh, K E Huang, C Chang

George Whipple Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. chang@pathology.rochester.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1999 Sep 28

filter terms:

Our earlier report suggested that androst-5-ene-3beta,7beta-diol (Delta(5)-androstenediol or Adiol) is a natural hormone with androgenic activity and that two potent antiandrogens, hydroxyflutamide (Eulexin) and bicalutamide (Casodex), fail to block completely the Adiol-induced androgen receptor (AR) transactivation in prostate cancer cells. Here, we report the development of a reporter assay to screen several selective steroids with anti-Adiol activity. Among 22 derivatives/metabolites of dehydroepiandrosterone, we found 4 steroids [no. 4, 1,3,5(10)-estratriene-17alpha-ethynyl-3, 17beta-diol; no. 6, 17alpha-ethynyl-androstene-diol; no. 8, 3beta, 17beta-dihydroxy-androst-5-ene-16-one; and no. 10, 3beta-methylcarbonate-androst-5-ene-7,17-dione] that have no androgenic activity and could also block the Adiol-induced AR transactivation in prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Interestingly, these compounds, in combination with hydroxyflutamide, further suppressed the Adiol-induced AR transactivation. Reporter assays further showed that these four anti-Adiol steroids have relatively lower glucocorticoid, progesterone, and estrogenic activity. Together, these data suggest some selective steroids might have anti-Adiol activity, which may have potential clinical application in the battle against the androgen-dependent prostate cancer growth.

Citation

H C Chang, H Miyamoto, P Marwah, H Lardy, S Yeh, K E Huang, C Chang. Suppression of Delta(5)-androstenediol-induced androgen receptor transactivation by selective steroids in human prostate cancer cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1999 Sep 28;96(20):11173-7