Function and regulatory mechanism of androgen receptor variant 7 in castration resistant prostate cancer / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Androgen receptor (AR) plays a key regulatory role in the development of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), and the level of constitutive active variants represented by androgen receptor variant 7 (AR-V7) is increasing during the progress of CRPC, which can be used as a molecular marker of disease progress and prognosis of patients with CRPC. It is an important target to overcome castration resistance and improve the quality of life and survival of patients. In this paper, the function of AR-V7 and its molecular regulation mechanism in CRPC are reviewed. The research shows that the generation of AR-V7 is related to the structural rearrangement of AR gene, gene amplification and the selective splicing of AR gene transcripts, and it is affected by the coordinated regulation of multiple signal pathway molecules such as TGF-β; AR-V7 changes the transport and nuclear localization mechanism of AR protein, and further affects the transcriptional expression of downstream target genes. AR-V7 antagonizes AR activity and blocks the differentiation process driven by AR and androgen, and inhibits the expression of tumor suppressor genes to stimulate the proliferation of tumor cells, thus promoting the progress of Pca. Related targeting studies have revealed AR-V7 targets and CRPC treatment strategies. Currently, they mainly focus on AR-V7 protein degradation, mRNA expression inhibition and N-terminal domain targeting intervention. With the development of in-depth research, the molecular mechanism of AR-V7 in the progress of Pca will be gradually clarified, which will certainly play a greater role in the prevention and treatment of CRPC.