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Targeting castration-resistant prostate cancer with androgen receptor antisense oligonucleotide therapy
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
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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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 8

Efficacy determination of in vivo combination therapy with ISIS581088 and AZD5363 in mouse Pten-deficient prostate cancer models.

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Efficacy determination of in vivo combination therapy with ISIS581088 an...
(A) Sixteen-week-old conditional Pten-KO mice were randomized into baseline (n = 6) and KLEPTOSE/DMSO as vehicle control (Ctrl veh), control ASO (Ctrl-ASO, 40 mg/kg), ISIS581088 (ISI, 40 mg/kg, see Figure 3A for ASO dosing schedules), AZD5363 (100 mg/kg b.i.d., p.o.), and ISIS581088+AZD5363 treatment groups as previously described. Plot represents pooled analysis of tumor burden from 2 independent studies; n = 14 mice/group. Horizontal bars represent mean ± SEM, and diamonds represent individual mice. Significance represent Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test for individual comparisons, upon significant 1-way ANOVA (F5,75 = 44.277, P < 0.001). Plots of tumor epithelial cell proliferation (B) and apoptosis (C) determined by Ki67 and cleaved caspase-3 IHC analyses; n = 3–4 mice/group. Horizontal bars represent mean ± SEM, and diamonds represent individual samples. Significance represent Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test for individual comparisons, upon significant 1-way ANOVA (Ki67, F5,22 = 9.909, P < 0.001; c. casp-3, F5,22 = 6.627, P = 0.001). (D) Plot of tumor burden in 16-week-old mice with Pten-deficient castration-resistant prostate tumors (see Figure 5A) were randomized into vehicle control and indicated treatment groups as described above. Horizontal bars represent mean ± SEM, and diamonds represent individual mice. Significance represent Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test for individual comparisons, upon significant 1-way ANOVA (F4,39 = 8.177, P < 0.001). Plots of tumor epithelial cell proliferation (E) and apoptosis (F) determined by Ki67 and cleaved caspase-3 IHC analyses. Horizontal bars represent mean ± SEM, and diamonds represent individual samples; n = 4 mice/group. Significance represent Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test for individual comparisons, upon significant 1-way ANOVA (Ki67, F4,19 = 6.505, P = 0.003; c. casp-3, F4,19 = 18.672, P < 0.001). Representative H&E-stained sections of mouse prostate tumors are shown with the indicated treatment for the castration-naive (H) and castration-resistant prostate cancer models (G). Scale bars: 100 μm; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.

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