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Targeting castration-resistant prostate cancer with androgen receptor antisense oligonucleotide therapy
Marco A. De Velasco, … , Kazuto Nishio, Hirotsugu Uemura
Marco A. De Velasco, … , Kazuto Nishio, Hirotsugu Uemura
Published September 5, 2019
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2019;4(17):e122688. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.122688.
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Research Article Endocrinology Therapeutics

Targeting castration-resistant prostate cancer with androgen receptor antisense oligonucleotide therapy

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Abstract

Sustained therapeutic responses from traditional and next-generation antiandrogen therapies remain elusive in clinical practice due to inherent and/or acquired resistance resulting in persistent androgen receptor (AR) activity. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) have the ability to block target gene expression and associated protein products and provide an alternate treatment strategy for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). We demonstrate the efficacy and therapeutic potential of this approach with a Generation-2.5 ASO targeting the mouse AR in genetically engineered models of prostate cancer. Furthermore, reciprocal feedback between AR and PI3K/AKT signaling was circumvented using a combination approach of AR-ASO therapy with the potent pan-AKT inhibitor, AZD5363. This treatment strategy effectively improved treatment responses and prolonged survival in a clinically relevant mouse model of advanced CRPC. Thus, our data provide preclinical evidence to support a combination strategy of next-generation ASOs targeting AR in combination with AKT inhibition as a potentially beneficial treatment approach for CRPC.

Authors

Marco A. De Velasco, Yurie Kura, Kazuko Sakai, Yuji Hatanaka, Barry R. Davies, Hayley Campbell, Stephanie Klein, Youngsoo Kim, A. Robert MacLeod, Koichi Sugimoto, Kazuhiro Yoshikawa, Kazuto Nishio, Hirotsugu Uemura

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Figure 1

Pharmacodynamic activity of ISIS581088 in mouse prostate tumors.

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Pharmacodynamic activity of ISIS581088 in mouse prostate tumors.
(A) Con...
(A) Conditional Pten-KO (18–19 weeks of age, n = 3–4 mice/group) mice received ISIS581088 (40 mg/kg i.p.) or the control ASO (40 mg/kg i.p.) as indicated. (B) Semiquantitative analysis and representative IHC images of ASO uptake in mPIN lesions of the dorsal (DP) and ventral (VP) lobes of mouse prostate. Cumulative distribution of the ASO was assessed according to distribution patterns against an antibody targeting the Generation-2.5 ASO backbone (np, not present; –, negative; +/–, slight; +, minimal; ++, moderate; n = 2–4 mice/group) Scale bars: 100 μm. (C) Ar mRNA expression analysis by qPCR. Horizontal bars represent ± SEM, and diamonds represent individual samples. Significance represent Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test for individual comparisons, upon significant 1-way ANOVA (F4,22 = 5.301, P = 0.005). (D) AR protein expression by IHC. Scale bar: 50 μm. (E) Heatmap of AR protein, Ar mRNA, and AR target gene expression by qPCR in 20-week-old Pten-KO treated with ISIS581088 (ISI) or control ASO (Ctrl ASO) (n = 3–6 mice/group). (F) Correlation matrix of AR protein, Ar mRNA, and AR target gene expression; shaded squares represent P < 0.05.

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