Correction to: Androgen receptor regulates expression of skeletal muscle-specific proteins and muscle cell types.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Radiation biology and oncology in the genomic era.

Radiobiology research is building the foundation for applying genomics in precision radiation oncology. Advances in high-throughput approaches will underpin increased understanding of radiosensitivity and the development of future predictive assays for clinical application. There is an established contribution of genetics as a risk factor for radiotherapy side effects. An individual's radiosensitivity is an inherited polygenic trait with an architecture that includes rare mutations in a few genes that confer large effects and common variants in many genes with small effects. Current thinking is that some will be tissue specific, and future tests will be tailored to the normal tissues at risk. The relationship between normal and tumor cell radiosensitivity is poorly understood. Data are emerging suggesting interplay between germline genetic variation and epigenetic modification with growing evidence that changes in DNA methylation regulate the radiosensitivity of cancer cells and histone acetyltransferase inhibitors have radiosensitizing effects. Changes in histone methylation can also impair DNA damage response signaling and alter radiosensitivity. An important effort to advance radiobiology in the genomic era was establishment of the Radiogenomics Consortium to enable the creation of the large radiotherapy cohorts required to exploit advances in genomics. To address challenges in harmonizing data from multiple cohorts, the consortium established the REQUITE project to collect standardized data and genotyping for ~5,000 patients. The collection of detailed dosimetric data is important to produce validated multivariable models. Continued efforts will identify new genes that impact on radiosensitivity to generate new knowledge on toxicity pathogenesis and tests to incorporate into the clinical decision-making process.

Androgen Receptor Signaling Reduces Radiosensitivity in Bladder Cancer.

Although radiotherapy often with chemotherapy has been shown to offer a survival benefit comparable with that of radical cystectomy in select patients with bladder cancer, the development of radiosensitization strategies may significantly enhance its application. Notably, emerging preclinical evidence has indicated the involvement of androgen receptor (AR) signaling in urothelial cancer progression. We here assessed whether AR signals could contribute to modulating radiosensitivity in bladder cancer cells. Ionizing radiation reduced the numbers of viable cells or colonies of AR-negative lines more significantly than those of AR-positive lines. Similarly, in AR-positive cells cultured in androgen-depleted conditions, dihydrotestosterone treatment lowered the effects of irradiation. Meanwhile, an antiandrogen hydroxyflutamide enhanced them in AR-positive cells cultured in the presence of androgens. AR knockdown or hydroxyflutamide treatment also resulted in a delay in DNA double-strand break repair 4-24 hours after irradiation. We then established "radiation-resistant" sublines and found considerable elevation of the expression of AR as well as DNA repair genes, such as ATR, CHEK1, and PARP-1, in these sublines, compared with respective controls. Furthermore, dihydrotestosterone induced the expression of these DNA repair genes in irradiated AR-positive cells, and hydroxyflutamide antagonized the androgen effects. Finally, in a mouse xenograft model, low-dose flutamide was found to enhance the inhibitory effects of irradiation, and its tumor size was similar to that of AR knockdown line with radiation alone. These findings suggest that AR activity inversely correlates with radiosensitivity in bladder cancer. Accordingly, antiandrogenic drugs may function as sensitizers of irradiation, especially in patients with AR-positive urothelial cancer. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(7); 1566-74. ©2018 AACR.

IL-6 Mediates Macrophage Infiltration after Irradiation via Up-regulation of CCL2/CCL5 in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

Radiotherapy is effective in reducing primary tumors, however, it may enhance macrophage infiltration to tumor sites, accelerating tumor progression in several ways. We investigated whether radiation can increase macrophage infiltration into non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cells. Analysis of in vitro macrophage (differentiated THP-1 cells) migration to either nonirradiated or irradiated tumor cells showed increased migration to the irradiated tumor cells. Because the IL-6 levels in A549 and H157 cells were significantly increased after irradiation, we then investigated whether this increased IL-6 level contributes to radiation-induced macrophage migration. Radiation-induced macrophage infiltration was reduced when IL-6 was knocked down in tumor cells, indicating a positive IL-6 role in this process. To validate this in vitro result, an orthotopic mouse model was developed using a luciferase-tagged H157siIL-6/scramble control (sc) cell set. After tumors developed, the lungs were irradiated, and infiltration of endogenous macrophages and tail-vein injected fluorescent macrophages to tumor sites was investigated. In both groups, increased macrophage infiltration was observed in H157sc cell-derived xenografts compared to H157siIL-6 cell-derived xenografts, confirming the positive IL-6 role in the radiation-induced macrophage infiltration process. In mechanistic dissection studies, radiation-induced up-regulation of CCL2 and CCL5 by IL-6 was detected, and blocking the action of CCL2/CCL5 molecules significantly reduced the number of migrated macrophages to tumor cells after irradiation. These results demonstrate that targeting the IL-6 signaling or CCL2/CCL5 molecules in combination with conventional radiotherapy potentially blocks undesired radiation-induced macrophage infiltration.

A FASN-TGF-ß1-FASN regulatory loop contributes to high EMT/metastatic potential of cisplatin-resistant non-small cell lung cancer.

Cisplatin-resistant A549CisR and H157CisR cell lines were developed by treating parental A549 (A549P) and H157 (H157P) cells. These cisplatin-resistant cells showed slight growth retardation, but exhibited higher epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and increased metastatic potential compared to parental cells. We observed a highly up-regulated fatty acid synthase (FASN) level in A549CisR and H157CisR cells compared to parental cells and the up-regulation of FASN was also detected in A549P and H157P cells after short time treatment with cisplatin, suggesting that the high level of FASN in cisplatin-resistant cells may be from the accumulated cellular responses during cisplatin-resistance developmental process. We next investigated whether the inhibition of FASN by using a specific FASN inhibitor, cerulenin, can influence growth and EMT/metastatic potential of A549CisR and H157CisR cells. There was slight growth inhibition, but significantly reduced EMT/metastatic potential in cisplatin-resistant cells upon inhibitor treatment. The in vitro result was further investigated in orthotopic xenograft mouse models established with luciferase-tagged H157P and H157CisR cells. Mice were injected with cerulenin or vehicle after tumors were developed. No significant tumor regression was detected at the end of cerulenin treatment, but IHC staining showed higher expression of EMT/metastasis markers in H157CisR cell-derived tumors than H157P cell-derived tumors, and showed dramatic reduction of these markers in tumor tissues of cerulenin-treated mice, confirming the in vitro results. In mechanism dissection studies, we revealed the existence of the FASN-TGF-ß1-FASN positive loop in A549CisR and H157CisR cells, but not in parental cells, which is believed to augment the FASN function in cisplatin-resistant cells.

Shear wave dispersion in lean versus steatotic rat livers.

OBJECTIVES: The precise measurement of fat accumulation in the liver, or steatosis, is an important clinical goal. Our previous studies in phantoms and mouse livers support the hypothesis that, starting with a normal liver, increasing accumulations of microsteatosis and macrosteatosis will increase the lossy viscoelastic properties of shear waves in a medium. This increase results in an increased dispersion (or slope) of the shear wave speed in the steatotic livers. METHODS: In this study, we moved to a larger animal model, lean versus obese rat livers ex vivo, and a higher-frequency imaging system to estimate the shear wave speed from crawling waves. RESULTS: The results showed elevated dispersion in the obese rats and a separation of the lean versus obese liver parameters in a 2-dimensional parameter space of the dispersion (slope) and shear wave speed at a reference frequency of 150 Hz. CONCLUSIONS: We have confirmed in 3 separate studies the validity of our dispersion hypothesis in animal models.

MicroRNA-494 is a master epigenetic regulator of multiple invasion-suppressor microRNAs by targeting ten eleven translocation 1 in invasive human hepatocellular carcinoma tumors.

UNLABELLED: Vascular invasion provides a direct route for tumor metastasis. The degree to which microRNA (miRNA) expression plays a role in tumor vascular invasion is unclear. Here, we report that miR-494 is up-regulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors with vascular invasion and can promote HCC cell invasiveness by gene inactivation of multiple invasion-suppressor miRNAs. Our results show that ten eleven translocation (TET) methylcytosine dioxygenase, predominantly TET1 in HCC cells, is a direct target of miR-494. The reduced 5'-hydroxymethylcytosine levels observed in the proximal cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) regions of multiple invasion-suppressor miRNA genes are strongly associated with their transcriptional repression upon miR-494 overexpression, whereas enforced DNA demethylation can abolish the repression. Furthermore, TET1 knockdown shows a similar effect as miR-494 overexpression. Conversely, miR-494 inhibition or enforced TET1 expression is able to restore invasion-suppressor miRNAs and inhibit miR-494-mediated HCC cell invasion. CONCLUSIONS: miR-494 can trigger gene silencing of multiple invasion-suppressor miRNAs by inhibiting genomic DNA demethylation by direct targeting of TET1, thereby leading to tumor vascular invasion.

Mouse liver dispersion for the diagnosis of early-stage Fatty liver disease: a 70-sample study.

The accumulation of fat droplets within the liver is an important marker of liver disease. This study assesses gradations of steatosis in mouse livers using crawling waves, which are interfering patterns of shear waves introduced into the liver by external sources. The crawling waves are detected by Doppler ultrasound imaging techniques, and these are analyzed to estimate the shear wave speed as a function of frequency between 200 and 360 Hz. In a study of 70 mice with progressive increases in steatosis from 0% to >60%, increases in steatosis are found to increase the dispersion, or frequency dependence, of shear wave speed. This finding confirms an earlier, smaller study and points to the potential of a scoring system for steatosis based on shear wave dispersion.

Targeting thymic epithelia AR enhances T-cell reconstitution and bone marrow transplant grafting efficacy.

Although thymic involution has been linked to the increased testosterone in males after puberty, its detailed mechanism and clinical application related to T-cell reconstitution in bone marrow transplantation (BMT) remain unclear. By performing studies with reciprocal BMT and cell-specific androgen receptor (AR) knockout mice, we found that AR in thymic epithelial cells, but not thymocytes or fibroblasts, played a more critical role to determine thymic cellularity. Further dissecting the mechanism using cell-specific thymic epithelial cell-AR knockout mice bearing T-cell receptor transgene revealed that elevating thymocyte survival was due to the enhancement of positive selection resulting in increased positively selected T-cells in both male and female mice. Targeting AR, instead of androgens, either via genetic knockout of thymic epithelial AR or using an AR-degradation enhancer (ASC-J9®), led to increased BMT grafting efficacy, which may provide a new therapeutic approach to boost T-cell reconstitution in the future.

Androgen receptor influences on body defense system via modulation of innate and adaptive immune systems: lessons from conditional AR knockout mice.

Upon insult, such as infection or tissue injury, the innate and adaptive immune systems initiate a series of responses to defend the body. Recent studies from immune cell-specific androgen receptor (AR) knockout mice demonstrated that androgen and its receptor (androgen/AR) play significant roles in both immune regulations. In the innate immunity, androgen/AR is required for generation and proper function of neutrophils; androgen/AR also regulates wound healing processes through macrophage recruitment and proinflammatory cytokine production. In adaptive immunity, androgen/AR exerts suppressive effects on development and activation of T and B cells. Removal of such suppression causes thymic enlargement and excessive export of immature B cells. Altogether, androgen/AR plays distinct roles in individual immune cells, and targeting androgen/AR may help in treatment and management of immune-related diseases.

Exome sequencing identifies NMNAT1 mutations as a cause of Leber congenital amaurosis.

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is an autosomal recessive retinal dystrophy that manifests with genetic heterogeneity. We sequenced the exome of an individual with LCA and identified nonsense (c.507G>A, p.Trp169*) and missense (c.769G>A, p.Glu257Lys) mutations in NMNAT1, which encodes an enzyme in the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthesis pathway implicated in protection against axonal degeneration. We also found NMNAT1 mutations in ten other individuals with LCA, all of whom carry the p.Glu257Lys variant.

Monocyte/macrophage androgen receptor suppresses cutaneous wound healing in mice by enhancing local TNF-alpha expression.

Cutaneous wounds heal more slowly in elderly males than in elderly females, suggesting a role for sex hormones in the healing process. Indeed, androgen/androgen receptor (AR) signaling has been shown to inhibit cutaneous wound healing. AR is expressed in several cell types in healing skin, including keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts, and infiltrating macrophages, but the exact role of androgen/AR signaling in these different cell types remains unclear. To address this question, we generated and studied cutaneous wound healing in cell-specific AR knockout (ARKO) mice. General and myeloid-specific ARKO mice exhibited accelerated wound healing compared with WT mice, whereas keratinocyte- and fibroblast-specific ARKO mice did not. Importantly, the rate of wound healing in the general ARKO mice was dependent on AR and not serum androgen levels. Interestingly, although dispensable for wound closure, keratinocyte AR promoted re-epithelialization, while fibroblast AR suppressed it. Further analysis indicated that AR suppressed wound healing by enhancing the inflammatory response through a localized increase in TNF-alpha expression. Furthermore, AR enhanced local TNF-alpha expression via multiple mechanisms, including increasing the inflammatory monocyte population, enhancing monocyte chemotaxis by upregulating CCR2 expression, and enhancing TNF-alpha expression in macrophages. Finally, targeting AR by topical application of a compound (ASC-J9) that degrades AR protein resulted in accelerated healing, suggesting a potential new therapeutic approach that may lead to better treatment of wound healing.

Neutropenia with impaired host defense against microbial infection in mice lacking androgen receptor.

Neutrophils, the major phagocytes that form the first line of cell-mediated defense against microbial infection, are produced in the bone marrow and released into the circulation in response to granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). Here, we report that androgen receptor knockout (ARKO) mice are neutropenic and susceptible to acute bacterial infection, whereas castration only results in moderate neutrophil reduction in mice and humans. Androgen supplement can restore neutrophil counts via stabilizing AR in castrated mice, but not in ARKO and testicular feminization mutant (Tfm) mice. Our results show that deletion of the AR gene does not influence myeloid lineage commitment, but significantly reduces the proliferative activity of neutrophil precursors and retards neutrophil maturation. CXCR2-dependent migration is also decreased in ARKO neutrophils as compared with wild-type controls. G-CSF is unable to delay apoptosis in ARKO neutrophils, and ARKO mice show a poor granulopoietic response to exogenous G-CSF injection. In addition, AR can restore G-CSF-dependent granulocytic differentiation upon transduction into ARKO progenitors. We further found that AR augments G-CSF signaling by activating extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and also by sustaining Stat3 activity via diminishing the inhibitory binding of PIAS3 to Stat3. Collectively, our findings demonstrate an essential role for AR in granulopoiesis and host defense against microbial infection.

Susceptibility to autoimmunity and B cell resistance to apoptosis in mice lacking androgen receptor in B cells.

Estrogens have been linked to a higher female incidence of autoimmune diseases. The role of androgen and the androgen receptor (AR) in autoimmune diseases, however, remains unclear. Here we report that the lack of AR in B cells in different strains of mice, namely general AR knockout, B cell-specific AR knockout, and naturally occurring testicular feminization mutation AR-mutant mice, as well as castrated wild-type mice, results in increased B cells in blood and bone marrow. Analysis of the targeted mice, together with bone marrow transplantation using Rag1(-/-) recipients, overexpression of retrovirally encoded AR-cDNA, and small interfering RNA-mediated AR mRNA knockdown approaches also show that the B cell expansion results from resistance to apoptosis and increased proliferation of bone marrow precursor B cells, accompanied by changes in several key modulators related to apoptosis, such as Fas/FasL signals, caspases-3/-8, nuclear factor-kappaB, and Bcl-2. We also show that the effects of AR loss are, in part, B cell intrinsic. Mice bearing AR-deficient B cells show increased levels of serum IgG2a and IgG3 as well as basal double-stranded DNA-IgG antibodies and are more vulnerable to development of collagen-induced arthritis. Together, these data indicate that androgen/AR play a crucial role in B cell homeostasis and tolerance. Therapies targeting AR might provide an alternative strategy with which to battle autoimmune diseases.

Targeting the stromal androgen receptor in primary prostate tumors at earlier stages.

To differentiate roles of androgen receptor (AR) in prostate stromal and epithelial cells, we have generated inducible-(ind)ARKO-TRAMP and prostate epithelial-specific ARKO TRAMP (pes-ARKO-TRAMP) mouse models, in which the AR was knocked down in both prostate epithelium and stroma or was knocked out in the prostate epithelium, respectively. We found that loss of AR in both mouse models resulted in poorly differentiated primary tumors with expanded intermediate cell populations. Interestingly, knockdown of both epithelial and stromal AR in ind-ARKO-TRAMP mice at earlier stages resulted in smaller primary prostate tumors with lower proliferation rates, and knockout of AR in pes-ARKO-TRAMP mice resulted in larger primary prostate tumors with higher proliferation rates. The differential proliferation rates, yet with similarly expanded intermediate cell populations, indicated that the prostate stromal AR might play a more dominant role than the epithelial AR to promote primary tumor proliferation at an early stage of tumor. Tissue recombination of human prostate stromal cell lines (WPMY1-v or WPMY1-ARsi) with human prostate cancer epithelial cell lines (PC3-v or PC3-AR9) further demonstrated that the AR might function as a suppressor in epithelial cells and a proliferator in stromal cells in the primary prostate tumors. The dual roles of the AR in prostate epithelium and stroma may require us to reevaluate the target and timing of androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer patients and may suggest a need to develop new drugs to selectively target stromal AR in the primary prostate tumors at earlier stages.

Infertility with defective spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis in male mice lacking androgen receptor in Leydig cells.

Androgen and the androgen receptor (AR) have been shown to play critical roles in male fertility. Our previous data demonstrated that mice lacking AR (AR(-/y)) revealed incomplete germ cell development and lowered serum testosterone levels, which resulted in azoospermia and infertility. However, the consequences of AR loss in Leydig cells remain largely unknown. Using a Cre-LoxP conditional knockout strategy, we generated a tissue-specific knockout mouse (L-AR(-/y)) with the AR gene deleted by the anti-Müllerian hormone receptor-2 (Amhr2) promoter driven Cre expressed in Leydig cells. Phenotype analyses show that the outside appearance of L-AR(-/y) mice was indistinguishable from wild type mice (AR(+/y)), but with atrophied testes and epididymis. L-AR(-/y) mice were infertile, with spermatogenic arrest predominately at the round spermatid stage and no sperm could be detected in the epididymis. L-AR(-/y) mice also have lower serum testosterone concentrations and higher serum leuteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations than AR(+/y) mice. Further mechanistic studies demonstrated that hypotestosteronemia in L-AR(-/y) mice is not caused by reducing numbers of Leydig cells, but instead by the alterations of several key steroidogenic enzymes, including 17beta-HSD3, 3beta-HSD6, and P450c17. Together, L-AR(-/y) mice provide in vivo evidence that functional AR in Leydig cells is essential to maintain normal spermatogenesis, testosterone production, and required for normal male fertility.

Oligozoospermia with normal fertility in male mice lacking the androgen receptor in testis peritubular myoid cells.

Androgens and the androgen receptor (AR) play important roles in the testes. Previously we have shown that male total AR knockout (T-AR-/y) mice revealed incomplete germ cell development and lowered serum testosterone levels, which resulted in azoospermia and infertility. However, the consequences of AR loss in particular types of testicular cells remain unclear. Using a Cre-loxP conditional knockout strategy, we generated a tissue-selective knockout mouse with the AR gene deleted in testis peritubular myoid cells (PM-AR-/y). Phenotype analyses showed that PM-AR-/y mice were indistinguishable from WT AR (AR+/y) mice with the exception of smaller testes size. PM-AR-/y mice have serum testosterone concentrations comparable with AR+/y mice. PM-AR-/y mice have oligozoospermia in the epididymis; however, fertility was normal. Although normal germ cell distribution ratio was found, total germ cell number decreased in PM-AR-/y mice. Further mechanistic studies demonstrated that PM-AR-/y mice have defects in the expression of Sertoli cells' functional marker genes such as tranferrin, epidermal fatty acid-binding protein, androgen-binding protein, and other junction genes including occludin, testin, nectin, zyxin, vinculin, laminingamma3, gelsolin, connection43, and N-cadherin. Furthermore, there were defects in peritubular myoid cell contractility-related genes such as endothelin-1, endothelin receptor A and B, adrenomedullin, adrenomedullin receptor, and vasopressin receptor 1a. Together, our PM-AR-/y mice provide in vivo evidence for the requirement of functional AR in peritubular myoid cells to maintain normal Sertoli cells function and peritubular myoid cell contractility, thus ensuring normal spermatogenesis and sperm output.

Induction of androgen receptor expression by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt downstream substrate, FOXO3a, and their roles in apoptosis of LNCaP prostate cancer cells.

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway plays important roles for prostate cancer cell survival, and the androgen receptor (AR) plays essential roles for prostate cancer cell proliferation. How these two signals cooperate to control cell growth and death, however, remains unclear and debated. Here we provide the first linkage by the identification of Forkhead transcription factor FOXO3a, the PI3K/Akt downstream substrate, as a positive regulator for the induction of AR gene expression. Both Western blot and real time PCR assays demonstrate that FOXO3a can induce AR expression at the protein and mRNA levels, and gel shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays further demonstrate that FOXO3a can induce 5' AR promoter activity via binding to the consensus DNA-binding sequence in the AR 5' promoter -1290 to -1297 (5'-TTGTTTCA-3'). Under normal growth conditions, blocking PI3K/Akt signals by LY294002 causes LNCaP cell arrest in G1 phase rather than apoptosis. However, further blocking of AR functions by AR small interfering RNA leads to dramatic LNCaP cell death, suggesting that AR may play important protective roles when the PI3K/Akt signal pathway is blocked by LY294002. Together, our data provide the first model to explain how PI3K/Akt and AR can cooperate to control LNCaP cell growth and death under normal conditions.

9-cis-retinoic acid inhibits androgen receptor activity through activation of retinoid X receptor.

Although the retinoic X receptor (RXR) forms heterodimers with many members of the estrogen receptor subfamily, the interaction between RXR and the members of the glucocorticoid receptor subfamily remains unclear. Here we show that the RXR can form a heterodimer with the androgen receptor (AR) under in vitro and in vivo conditions. Functional analyses further demonstrated that the AR, in the presence or absence of androgen, can function as a repressor to suppress RXR target genes, thereby preventing the RXR binding to the RXR DNA response element. In contrast, RXR can function as a repressor to suppress AR target genes in the presence of 9-cis-retinoic acid, but unliganded RXR can function as a weak coactivator to moderately enhance AR transactivation. Together, these results not only reveal a unique interaction between members of the two nuclear receptor subfamilies, but also represent the first evidence showing a nuclear receptor (RXR) may function as either a repressor or a coactivator based on the ligand binding status.