Conjugated linoleate reduces prostate cancer viability whereas the effects of oleate and stearate are cell line-dependent.

BACKGROUND: In this study, responses to fatty acid treatments in commonly used prostate cancer cell culture models and variability of gene expression between them were determined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PC3, DU145, LNCaP, VCaP and PNT2 cells were treated with 100 µM of either oleate, stearate or conjugated linoleate. Cell proliferation and viability were assessed using trypan blue and 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay respectively. Gene expression was measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Conjugated linoleic acid reduced cell proliferation and viability in all prostate cancer cell lines, whilst the effects of oleic and stearic acid on proliferation were found to be cell line-dependent. A reduction in gene expression of fatty acid desaturases was observed in prostate cancer cell lines compared to normal prostate cells. CONCLUSION: Differential responses of the cell lines investigated here to fatty acid treatment suggest that multiple prostate cancer cell line models should be used when designing experiments aimed at examining lipid metabolism in prostate cancer.