This study was aimed to evaluate detailed mechanisms on the apoptotic induction of
benzyldihydroxyoctenone, a novel compound isolated from Streptomyces sp. KACC91015, in
androgen-sensitive LNCaP
prostate cancer cells.
Benzyldihydroxyoctenone, designated as F3-2-5 in the current study, caused accumulation of apoptotic sub-G(1) phase in the flow cytometric analysis using
propidium iodide staining. Moreover, the typical apoptotic DNA fragmentation of the LNCaP cells treated with 30 microM of F3-2-5 was confirmed using the TUNEL assay. This apoptotic induction of F3-2-5 in the LNCaP cells was associated with the
cytochrome c release from mitochondria to cytosol, and the activation of
procaspase-8, -9, and -3, as well as the specific proteolytic cleavage of
poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). In addition, F3-2-5 treatment caused the down-regulation of the antiapoptotic
protein, such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L), but the proapoptotic
protein, such as Bax, was not influenced. To investigate whether apoptotic induction by F3-2-5 is also due to the down-regulation of
androgen receptor (AR), Western blot analysis and quantitative RT-PCR were conducted in F3-2-5-treated LNCaP
prostate cancer cells. We found that F3-2-5 significantly inhibited the expression levels of AR and
prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
proteins in a time-dependent manner, as well as F3-2-5 abrogated the up-regulation of AR and PSA genes with and without DHT. Therefore, F3-2-5 has been shown to be an
androgen antagonist, suggesting that F3-2-5 could be a potent agent for the treatment of both
androgen-dependent and
hormone-refractory
prostate cancer.