Anti-proliferative activities of finasteride in benign prostate epithelial cells require stromal fibroblasts and c-Jun gene

PLoS One. 2017 Feb 14;12(2):e0172233. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172233. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the role of mouse fibroblast-mediated c-Jun and IGF-1 signaling in the therapeutic effect of finasteride on benign prostatic epithelial cells. BPH-1 cells, alone or with fibroblasts (c-Jun+/+ or c-Jun-/-), were implanted subcutaneously in male nude mice who were then treated with finasteride. The degrees of cell proliferation, apoptosis, and sizes of the xenografts were determined. BPH-1 cells were grown alone or co-cultured with mouse fibroblasts in the presence of finasteride and the level of IGF-1 secreted into the medium by the fibroblasts was determined. The proliferation-associated signaling pathway in BPH-1 cells was also evaluated. Fibroblasts and c-Jun promoted xenograft growth, stimulated Ki-67 expression, and inhibited BPH-1 apoptosis. Finasteride did not induce the shrinkage of xenografts in the combined-grafted groups despite repressing Ki-67 expression and inducing cell apoptosis. The addition of c-Jun-/- fibroblasts did not promote xenograft growth. In the absence of c-Jun and fibroblasts, finasteride did not alter xenograft growth, Ki-67 expression, or cell apoptosis. The in vitro results demonstrated that when BPH-1 cells were grown in monoculture, treatment with finasteride did not induce cell death and stimulated the expression of pro-proliferative signaling molecules, while in the presence of fibroblasts containing c-Jun, finasteride treatment repressed epithelial cell proliferation, the level of IGF-1 in the medium, and the activation of downstream pro-proliferative signaling pathways. Taken together, our results suggest that fibroblasts, c-Jun, and IGF-1 play key roles in mediating stromal-epithelial interactions that are required for the therapeutic effects of finasteride in benign prostate epithelial cells.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Apoptosis / genetics
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Epithelial Cells* / metabolism
  • Epithelial Cells* / pathology
  • Fibroblasts* / metabolism
  • Fibroblasts* / pathology
  • Finasteride / pharmacology*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects
  • Genes, jun*
  • Humans
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / genetics
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Neoplasm Proteins / genetics
  • Neoplasm Proteins / metabolism
  • Neoplasm Transplantation
  • Neoplasms, Experimental* / drug therapy
  • Neoplasms, Experimental* / genetics
  • Neoplasms, Experimental* / metabolism
  • Neoplasms, Experimental* / pathology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / metabolism
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / pathology

Substances

  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • Finasteride
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I

Grants and funding

This study was supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30973015) and the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 7122074) at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University to Yinong Niu. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.