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Endocrinology Vol. 138, No. 7 2998-3005
Copyright © 1997 by The Endocrine Society


ARTICLES

Differential Regulation of Two Uridine Diphospho-Glucuronosyltransferases, UGT2B15 and UGT2B17, in Human Prostate LNCaP Cells1

Chantal Guillemette2, Eric Lévesque2,3, Martin Beaulieu2, David Turgeon, Dean W. Hum and Alain Bélanger

From the Medical Research Council Group in Molecular Endocrinology, CHUL Research Center, Laval University, Quebec, 61V 462, Canada

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Alain Bélanger, Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology CHUL Research Center, 2705 Laurier Boulevard, Québec, G1V 4G2, Canada. E-mail: Alain.Belanger{at}crchul.ulaval.ca


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Although androgens are important regulators in the prostate, other effectors such as growth factors may also act to maintain normal function of the gland. Human prostate and human prostate cancer LNCaP cells express steroid conjugating uridine diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes, and it was shown that the level of UGT activities and transcripts is down-regulated by androgens, especially dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In the present study, we examined the interaction between androgen, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and steroid UGT enzymes. The formation of DHT glucuronide (DHT-G) was inhibited by 47% when LNCaP cells were treated for 6 days with 10 ng/ml of EGF. Northern blot analysis also demonstrated a decrease in the steady-state level of UGT2B transcripts. Treatment with both DHT (0.5 nM) and EGF (10 ng/ml) caused a greater decrease of DHT glucuronidation and UGT2B messenger RNA levels than when the cells were treated with either compound alone. RNase protection assays showed that treatment with DHT and EGF caused a specific decrease of UGT2B17 transcript in LNCaP cells treated; however, the level of UGT2B15 messenger RNA was not affected. As well, Western blot analysis demonstrated a diminution of UGT2B17 protein level in response to DHT and EGF. These results demonstrate a differential regulation of different isoforms of steroid conjugating UGTs present in human prostate LNCaP cells. UGT2B17 was shown to be more labile than UGT2B15, indicating that regulation of UGT2B17 expression would lead to a more rapid change in the level of glucuronidated steroids.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
THE CONCENTRATION of androgens in an androgen target tissue such as the human prostate can influence its growth and function (1). The human prostate expresses the enzymes required to produce dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from precursor steroids secreted from the adrenal gland and testis (2, 3). In the prostate, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) secreted from the adrenal gland is converted by 3ß-hydroxy-steroid dehydrogenase 4-ene-5-ene isomerase (3ß-HSD) to testosterone and is subsequently reduced by 5{alpha}-reductase to DHT, whereas testosterone secreted from the testis is also converted to DHT. In recent years, enzymes that catalyze the production of DHT in steroid target tissues have been well investigated (4, 5, 6); however, enzymes that are involved in the catabolism and elimination of steroids in these tissues, including uridine diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes, have received much less attention.

UGT enzymes catalyze the transfer of the glucuronyl group from uridine 5'-diphosphoglucuronic acid (UDPGA) to active endogenous and exogenous molecules having functional groups of oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon. The resulting glucuronide products are more polar, generally water soluble, less toxic, and more easily excreted than the substrate molecule. Examples of endogenous substrates that are glucuronidated include bilirubin, bile acids, and steroids, whereas xenobiotics such as drugs and pollutants are also detoxified by UGT enzymes (7, 8). Glucuronidation of a steroid molecule also prevents its interaction with its nuclear receptor and favors elimination of the polar steroid from the tissue. Therefore, the glucuronidation process is potentially an important pathway of steroid metabolism. Considering the high levels of glucuronidated DHT metabolites such as androsterone (ADT) and androstane-3{alpha},17ß-diol (3{alpha}-DIOL) and the presence of UGT enzymes found in several human extrahepatic tissues including the prostate (9, 10, 11, 12, 13), we have recently proposed that glucuronidation may be involved in regulating the androgen levels in these tissues. In fact, the concept of detoxification by glucuronidation in the liver could be extended to the extrahepatic tissues where endogenous compounds such as steroids could be glucuronidated for elimination.

The human prostate expresses UGT2B15 and UGT2B17, which have been demonstrated to glucuronidate androgens (11, 12, 13, 14). Similarly to other UGT enzymes, UGT2B15 can conjugate several classes of compounds (12, 14), however, it is also specific for DHT and 3{alpha}-DIOL that are glucuronidated at the 17ß-OH position. UGT2B17 is also specific for DHT and 3{alpha}-DIOL, but it can also conjugate ADT at the 3{alpha}-OH position (13). Interestingly, ADT-G that is conjugated by UGT2B17 is the predominant steroid glucuronide in the plasma and in the prostate of humans (9, 10).

Although androgens are important regulators in the prostate, several findings indicate that the prostate also produces peptide growth factors capable of enhancing or inhibiting cellular proliferation of the prostate and modify its function (15, 16, 17). In steroid-dependent prostatic tumors, androgens have been shown to modulate the local production of growth factors that in turn have been demonstrated to regulate tumor cell proliferation (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23). In addition to modulating steroidogenesis in Leydig cells, ovarian granulosa cells, and adrenal cells, growth factors influence the activity of steroid transforming enzymes in steroid target tissues such as the prostate, skin, and breast (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29).

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the regulation of expression of UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 in human prostate LNCaP cells by DHT and EGF. We have recently demonstrated that LNCaP cells, which are used extensively as a model of human prostate epithelial cells, are capable of converting 5{alpha}-reduced C19 steroids into glucuronide conjugates and of expressing UGT transcripts such as UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 (13, 30, 31, 32). It has been shown that the steady-state levels of UGT2B transcripts are repressed by androgens accompanied by a decrease of DHT and ADT glucuronidation in LNCaP cells (32). In this report, we demonstrate that the level of different steroid conjugating UGT2B transcripts are differentially regulated in human prostate LNCaP cells. We show that DHT and EGF can decrease the level of UGT2B17 transcript and protein, whereas the level of UGT2B15 messenger RNA (mRNA) remain unchanged. The decrease in the level of UGT2B17 was also manifested by a decreased production of glucuronidated DHT in LNCaP cells. In addition, it was also found that the UGT2B17 protein is more labile than UGT2B15, indicating that regulation of UGT2B17 expression can lead to a more rapid change in the level of glucuronidated steroids. These results demonstrate that UGT2B17 is a major enzyme catalyzing the glucuronidation of androgens in human prostate LNCaP cells.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Materials
All media and supplements for cell culture, as well as EGF, were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). FBS was purchased from Immunocorp (Montreal, Canada). [1, 2-3H] dihydrotestosterone (47 Ci/mmol), [9, 11-3H] androsterone (59 Ci/mmol) and {alpha}-[32P]-dUTP (3000 Ci/mmol) were purchased from Amersham (Oakville, Canada). Unlabeled DHT and ADT were obtained from Steraloids Inc. (Wilton, NH). Protein assay reagents were from Bio-Rad (Richmond, CA) and monoclonal anti-EGF-R antibody (Ab-1) was purchased from Calbiochem (Cambridge, MA). Restriction enzymes and other molecular biology reagents were from Pharmacia LKB Biotechnology Inc. (Milwaukee, WI), Life Technologies (Burlington, Canada), Stratagene (La Jolla, CA) and Boehringer Mannheim (Indianapolis, IN).

Cell culture
The LNCaP cell line was obtained from American Type Culture Collection (Rockville, MD) at passage 21 and used between passages 22 to 29. The cells were routinely maintained as monolayer cultures in RPMI-1640 medium phenol red-free supplemented with 10% (vol/vol) FBS, 2 mM glutamine, and antibiotics (100 IU of penicillin/ml and 100 µg of streptomycin/ml), as previously described (30, 32). After subculture of cells, using a mixture of 0.05% trypsin and 0.01% EDTA, cells were plated at the indicated density in 24-well plastic culture plates (2 cm2/well) previously treated for 24 h with poly-L-lysine and were allowed to adhere 48 h. RPMI-1640 medium containing the above-mentioned antibiotics and 2% (vol/vol) FBS, which had been treated twice with dextran-coated charcoal to remove endogenous steroids, was used in each experiment. Fresh medium containing the indicated concentrations of steroids and EGF was added to the cells every 2 days. At the end of the experiment, the cells were washed with fresh medium and followed by the addition of labeled DHT or ADT (10 nM), previously dissolved in the medium, allowed to incubate for 3 h. The medium was then carefully removed and the measurement of glucuronide formation was performed. At the end of the specified period of time, 150 µl of methanol were added to the cells and plates were left to dry at room temperature in the absence of light for determination of DNA content as previously described (30).

Steroid glucuronide analysis
Identification and quantification of the steroid glucuronides was determined using an HPLC system, enabling the separation of unconjugated and conjugated forms. Steroid glucuronides formed were previously identified by liquid chromatography ion spray mass spectrometry (30).

Northern blot analysis
Total RNA was isolated by the tri-reagent acid phenol method and quantified by optical density. Ten micrograms of total RNA were separated on a 1% agarose gel. The samples were transferred to a nylon-N membrane (Amersham, Oakville, Canada) using 10 x SSC. Prehybridization (12 h, 42 C) and hybridization (24 h, 42 C) were performed using a solution containing 40% formamide, 5 x Denhardt’s reagent, 5 x SSPE, 0.1% SDS, and 100 µg of salmon sperm DNA. A full-length UGT2B15 complementary DNA (cDNA), radiolabeled by the random hexamer primer technique in the presence of ({alpha}-32P) dCTP, was used as the probe (33). After hybridization, the blot was washed twice with a solution of 0.1 x SSC, 0.1% SDS at room temperature for 15 min followed by another two washes of 20 min at 55 C. The membrane was exposed for 8 days at -80 C on XAR film with an intensifying screen (Kodak Corp., Rochester, NY).

Ribonuclease protection assay
To generate a probe specific for UGT2B17, the pBK-CMV-UGT2B17 construct was linearized by EcoRI digestion and a radiolabeled cRNA probe of 318 bases, from nucleotide 1394 to 1629 including 83 bases from the vector, was generated using T7 RNA polymerase and [{alpha}-32P] UTP as described in the MAXIscript kit (Ambion, Austin, TX). The probe specific for UGT2B15 was generated as previously described (11). For all the ribonuclease protection assays, 25 µg of total RNA was hybridized with 200,000 cpm of the appropriate cRNA probe for 16 h at 42 C. cRNA-RNA hybrids were digested with 0.5 U RNase A and 20.0 U RNase T1 for 30 min at 37 C, and the protected products were analyzed on a 7 M urea, 6% polyacrylamide gel. The amount of protected probe corresponding to the bands on the film was quantitated by phophorimaging (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, CA).

Production and purification of the fusion protein
Cloning and sequencing of the UGT2B17 cDNA was previously reported (13). For the expression of a 29-kDa protein from amino acid sequence between 57 to 300 of UGT2B17 enzyme, HincII-SacI fragment from UGT2B17 cDNA was subcloned into the pET23a (Novagen, Madison, WI) prokaryotic expression vector. The E. coli BL21 cells (Novagen) harboring the recombinant vectors were grown at 37 C in 1 liter of terrific broth medium supplemented with ampicillin (100 µg/ml). When the absorbance at 600 nm reached 0.5–0.6 OD U, the production of the fusion proteins was achieved by adding 1 mM isopropyl ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) for 2 h at 37 C. The cells were harvested by centrifugation at 4 C, for 10 min at 5000 x g. The bacterial pellets were resuspended in 25 ml of a lysis buffer (125 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 4.6% SDS, 10% ß mercaptoethanol and 20% glycerol) and sonicated until homogeneity using an ultrasound sonicator. The proteins were separated on a preparative 12% polyacrylamide gel in the presence of SDS-PAGE, according to the standard method (34). The gel was washed with water before staining with a cold solution of 0.25 M KCl. The appropriate bands were excised from the gel and incubated for 2 h at room temperature and for 16 h at 4 C in a solution containing 500 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5. The solutions were centrifugated for 10 min at 2000 x g, and the resulting supernatants were lyophilized and resuspended in 5 ml of water, followed by two rounds of dialyses for 4 h at room temperature and 16 h at 4 C using 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5 and 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl.

Immunization procedure
The rabbits (Charles River Inc., Québec, Canada) were kept in separate cages in an environmentally controlled room. They were injected sc at multiple sites with 500 µl of a total of 100 µg of purified fusion protein in phosphate buffered saline, in the presence of 500 µl of complete Freund’s adjuvant. Two booster injections were given at 6-week intervals with the same quantity of protein in the presence of incomplete Freund’s adjuvant. The production of antibodies was checked 12 days after each injection on blood collected by ear puncture.

Immunoblot analysis
To gain information concerning the novel anti-UGT2B17 antibodies, microsomes from the HK293 cells, the stable HK293-UGT2B17 and UGT2B15 cells and from treated LNCaP cells were purified using a standard method (35). Ten micrograms of each microsomal protein and one hundred nanograms of the E. coli BL21 pLys S (Novagen) strain expressing or not the fusion protein were separated on a 12% SDS-PAGE gel. The gel was transferred onto a nitrocellulose filter and probe with a dilution 1:2000 of the rabbit antiserum. Antirabbit IgG horse peroxidase conjugates (Amersham, Oakville, Canada) was used as secondary antibodies, and the recognized proteins were then visualized using enhanced chemiluminescence (Renaissance, Québec, Canada) and exposed on a hyperfilm for 1 h (Kodak Corp., Rochester, NY). One hundred nanograms of E. coli BL21 (pLys S) cell lysate containing the 35-kDa recombinant UGT2B17 fusion protein were used to demonstrate the reactivity of the EL-95 polyclonal antibody.

Protein stability analysis
The UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 stable cell lines were obtained as previously reported (13, 14). Cells were plated at a density of 5 x 106 cells in 10-cm Petri dishes and treated with 20 µg/ml of cycloheximide for 12 and 24 h. After treatment with cycloheximide, cells were washed with TBS and homogenized to determine the enzymatic activity using 500 µM of eugenol as substrate. Subsequently, if the level of UGT activity was affected by the treatment, the cell extracts were incubated for 3, 9, 14, and 28 h using the same conditions to determine specifically the protein half-life. The enzymatic reactions were performed with 100 µM of UDPGA for 30 min at 37 C with 100 µg of proteins. The glucuronide formation were measured as previously described (13).


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Effect of EGF on LNCaP cell proliferation and UGT activity
It has been previously shown that EGF can stimulate human prostate cancer cell proliferation (36). To ascertain the effect of EGF on human prostate LNCaP cell growth, cells were treated with EGF ranging from 1–100 ng/ml. As shown in Fig. 1AGo, incubation with EGF led to increased cell proliferation, and this effect was additive when cells were treated with both EGF and 0.5 nM of DHT. To determine the effect of EGF on UGT activity in LNCaP cells, the level of DHT-G secreted into the cell media was measured after the incubation with labeled substrate. EGF decreased the level of DHT-G in a dose-dependent manner where the glucuronidation of DHT was inhibited by 36, 47, and 51% in the presence of 1, 10, and 100 ng/ml of EGF, respectively. Treating LNCaP cells with 0.5 nM of DHT decreased DHT-G formation by 43%, and the incubation of cells with a combination of both EGF and DHT caused an additive inhibitory effect on UGT activity (Fig. 1BGo). The same results were obtained when using ADT as substrate (data not shown).



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Figure 1. Dose response effects of EGF on proliferation of LNCaP cells and DHT glucuronide formation. (A) Growth and (B) UGT activity of LNCaP cells were determined after 6 days of exposure to increasing concentrations of EGF (1–100 ng/ml) in the presence and the absence of DHT (0.5 nM). Cells were initially plated at a density of 12,500 cells/well in triplicate wells per treatment. DNA content was measured after determination of DHT-G formation as described in Materials and Methods. The data are means ± SEM of three separate experiments each consisting of triplicate determinations. **, P <= 0.01; *, P <= 0.001; treatments vs. control without growth factors in the absence and the presence of DHT (0.5 nM), empty and bold columns, respectively.

 
To determine if the inhibition of DHT-G formation by EGF is mediated by a known physiological signal transduction pathway and not due to a nonspecific effect, we performed experiments to specifically block the action of EGF. Treating the cells with tyrphostin A46, which is a specific inhibitor of the EGF-receptor tyrosine kinase (37), partially reversed the inhibitory effect of EGF on DHT glucuronidation (Fig. 2Go). As well, incubating the cells with a specific antibody against the EGF receptor (38), which has previously been shown to block EGF binding, also reduced the inhibitory effect of EGF on DHT glucuronidation.



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Figure 2. Effects of tyrphostin A46 and an anti-EGF-R antibody on the inhibition of DHT glucuronide formation induced by DHT and EGF in LNCaP cells. The UGT activity of LNCaP cells were determined after 6 days of exposure to DHT (1 nM) or EGF (1–10 ng/ml) in the presence and in the absence of tyrphostin A46 (10 µM) or anti-EGF-R antibody (1/1500). Cells were initially plated at a density of 12,500 cells/well in triplicate wells per treatment. DNA content was measured after determination of DHT-G formation as described in Materials and Methods. The data are means ± SEM from two separate experiments each consisting of triplicate determinations. *, P <= 0.001 (treatments vs. control without tyrphostin A46 or EGF-R antibody).

 
Effect of EGF and DHT on the steady-state levels of UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 transcripts
Having shown that EGF and DHT can inhibit the glucuronidation of DHT in LNCaP cells, we sought to determine if this effect is mediated by changes in the level of UGT expression. Northern blot analysis of LNCaP cell RNA probed with the UGT2B15 cDNA, showed that the level of UGT2B transcript was decreased after 8 days of treatment with 10 ng/ml of EGF alone or in the presence of 0.5 nM of DHT (Fig. 3Go). Furthermore, a greater inhibition was observed in the presence of both the androgen and the growth factor. As shown on the Northern blot in Fig. 3Go, the UGT2B15 probe hybridizes to transcripts of approximately 2.1 kb and 2.3 kb, which indicates the presence of at least two different UGT mRNAs. Treatment of LNCaP cells with DHT and EGF led to a preferential decrease of the lower band at 2.1 kb, while the upper band at 2.3 kb persisted.



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Figure 3. Northern blot analysis of UGT2B transcripts in LNCaP cells treated with DHT and EGF alone or in combination. Ten micrograms of total RNA were isolated from treated LNCaP cells and separated on a 1% agarose gel. The blot was hybridized with a full length UGT2B15 cDNA probe. Control (CTR), lane 1, represents treatment of cells with steroid-free media containing vehicle alone (ETOH). LNCaP cells were treated for 8 days with DHT 0.5 nM (lane 2); EGF 10 ng/ml (lane 3); DHT 0.5 nM and EGF 10 ng/ml (lane 4).

 
Due to the high homology between the different UGT2B cDNA clones that have been characterized to date, it is probable that the UGT2B15 cDNA probe can hybridize to several UGT2B transcripts including UGT2B17 on a Northern blot. Having previously demonstrated that both UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 can glucuronidate DHT, we performed RNase protection analyses to distinguish between the two transcripts and to specifically measure any change in their levels in response to EGF. As expected, the UGT2B15 probe of 386 bp protected a fragment of 298 bp and the UGT2B17 probe of 318 bp protected a fragment of 224 bp (Fig. 4Go). The level of UGT2B15 transcript in LNCaP cells was not affected by EGF and DHT (Fig. 4AGo), however, the level of UGT2B17 transcript was decreased by 46, 84, and 91%, when cells were treated with 0.5 nM of DHT or 10 ng/ml of EGF and a combination of both compounds, respectively.



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Figure 4. RNase protection analysis of UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 in treated LNCaP cells. Twenty-five micrograms of total RNA isolated from treated LNCaP cells were hybridized to specific UGT2B15 (A) and UGT2B17 (B) cRNA probes. The UGT2B15 probe of 386 bp protected a fragment of 298 bp and the UGT2B17 probe of 318 bp protected a fragment of 224 bp. The quantity of RNA was normalized using a 137 bp 18S complementary RNA probe and protected a fragment of 110 bp in each RNA preparation. The size of the probe and protected fragments are indicated on the left of each panel. All samples were separated on a denaturing 6% polyacrylamide gel, 7 M urea and exposed on hyperfilm for 7 days.

 
Effect of DHT and EGF on the level of UGT2B17 protein
To detect UGT2B proteins expressed in LNCaP cells, a polyclonal antisera was raised against the N-terminal portion of the recombinant UGT2B17 protein. The region of the UGT2B17 protein used to immunize rabbits is the portion that is the least homologous to UGT2B15 and contains the putative aglycon binding domain. As shown in Fig. 5Go, the UGT2B17 antisera specifically recognizes the 29-kDa fusion protein expressed in E. coli BL21 cells. As expected, an antibody specific for the T7-Tag in the fusion protein also recognizes the 29-kDa protein. Western blot analyses with microsomes isolated from HK293 cells stably expressing UGT2B17, demonstrated the presence of the 53 kDa UGT2B17 protein as expected. Similar analysis with microsomes from untransfected cells and cells expressing UGT2B15, revealed some minor bands that are probably due to cross-reactivity.



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Figure 5. Immunoblot analysis using a novel anti-UGT2B17 antibody. One hundred nanograms of protein from untransformed E. coli BL21 cells and from cells expressing the UGT2B17 fusion protein were separated by 12% SDS-PAGE and transferred onto a nitrocellulose filter for analysis with the T7-Tag antibody and the UGT2B17 antibody. Ten micrograms of microsomal proteins from untransfected HK293 cells and stable cell lines expressing UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 were also similarly tested with the anti-UGT2B17 antibody.

 
To determine the effect of EGF and DHT on the level of UGT2B17 protein, microsomes from LNCaP cells were isolated and immunoblot studies were performed using the UGT2B17 antibody. Treating LNCaP cells with DHT or EGF decreased the level of UGT2B17 protein by 25 and 50%, respectively (Fig. 6Go). Incubation with both DHT and EGF decreased the level of UGT2B17 by 75%; however, this inhibitory effect was partially alleviated by treatment with tyrphostin A46.



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Figure 6. Immunoblot analysis of UGT2B17 in treated LNCaP cells. Ten micrograms of microsomal proteins from control and treated LNCaP cells were separated by 12% SDS-PAGE and transferred onto a nitrocellulose filter for analysis with the anti-UGT2B17 antibody. The UGT2B17 protein with an apparent molecular mass of 53 kDa is indicated by the arrow.

 
Protein stability analysis of UGT2B15 and UGT2B17
To compare the stability of UGT2B15 and UGT2B17, two HK293 cell lines stably expressing the enzymes were incubated with 20 µg/ml of cycloheximide to arrest protein synthesis for up to 24 h, and the level of UGT activity was ascertained by measuring the glucuronidation of eugenol in total cell extracts (Fig. 7AGo). The level of UGT2B15 activity was not affected after 24 h of cycloheximide treatment; however, the level of UGT2B17 activity was significantly reduced indicating the higher lability of this protein. To obtain an estimate of the UGT2B17 protein half-life, cycloheximide treatments were subsequently performed for 3, 9, 14, and 28 h and 50% of the activity was lost after approximately 3 h (Fig. 7BGo).



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Figure 7. Protein stability analysis of UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 using cycloheximide. UGT2B15, and UGT2B17 stable cell lines were treated with 20 µg/ml of cycloheximide for 12 and 24 h (A). After treatment, cell homogenates were tested for enzymatic activity using eugenol as described in Materials and Methods. To determine the protein half-life, UGT2B17 activity was reassayed after cycloheximide treatment for 3, 9, 14, and 28 h (B). Glucuronide formation was measured as previously reported and is expressed as a percentage of control (13 ). Results represent the mean of at least two experiments each performed in duplicate.

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
DHT is an important physiological regulator in the human prostate as evidenced by prostatic atrophy that results from castration and antiandrogen therapy (39, 40, 41). The ability of DHT to increase the production of prostate specific proteins such as PSA have been demonstrated in human tissue and the human prostate epithelial LNCaP cell line (1, 41). The action of DHT in the prostate is dependent upon many factors including the androgen receptor and the activity of steroidogenic enzymes involved in the production and catabolism of androgens in the prostate. It has been demonstrated that the activities of steroidogenic enzymes (3ß-HSD, 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, 5{alpha}-reductase and 3{alpha}-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase) involved in steroid metabolism, are regulated by androgens and growth factors (26, 28, 42, 43, 44, 45). As well, it has been shown that androgens can also alter the activity of UGT enzymes, which are involved in steroid catabolism, in LNCaP cells (32).

The expression of EGF and the EGF-receptor has been demonstrated in the human prostate and in LNCaP cells (18, 19, 41, 45, 46), and cell proliferation was stimulated both in vivo and in vitro by several growth factors, including EGF (19, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50). The action of EGF to increase the proliferation of LNCaP cells is observed when cells are incubated with 1–100 ng/ml of the growth factor. Androgens and EGF have been shown to have similar effects in LNCaP cells where they promote increased cell proliferation and inhibit the level of the androgen receptor and the secretion of PAP. However, these effectors can also have opposite effects where EGF decreases the secretion of PSA while androgens increase its secretion (36, 51, 52), which suggests that EGF in prostate cells does not function by activation of the androgen response pathway. Another common effect of EGF and androgens in LNCaP cells is their inhibition of androgen glucuronidation. Treatment of LNCaP cells with either EGF or DHT reduces the formation of glucuronidated DHT and ADT, and a combined treatment of both effectors leads to a greater decrease of glucuronidated androgens. The lowered glucuronidation of DHT and its metabolites leads to an increased level of active androgens in the cells and can play a role in the observed increase of cell proliferation in response to androgens and EGF.

Although the inhibitory effect of androgens and EGF on UGT enzymes may be mediated through different signal transduction pathways, there is evidence of cross-talk between these two pathways (52). As an example, the recent observation that an androgen response can be activated by EGF in an androgen-depleted environment strongly suggests the interaction of growth factors with the androgen-signal transduction cascade in prostatic tumor cells (53). As observed in the present study, both DHT and EGF are capable of inhibiting androgen glucuronidation via different mechanisms and appear to be synergistic. The action of EGF was blocked by tyrphostin A46 and an anti-EGF-receptor antibody; however, they did not alter the inhibitory effect of DHT. Furthermore, treating LNCaP cells with DHT and EGF caused the largest decrease of UGT2B17 protein; however, the addition of tyrphostin A46 restored the level of UGT2B17 protein to that seen with the DHT treatment alone (Fig. 6Go). Lyall et al. (37) have demonstrated that tyrphostin A46 can specifically inhibit EGF-stimulated receptor autophosphorylation and tyrosine phosphorylation of intracellular endogenous substrates. To further suggest that EGF and DHT inhibits androgen glucuronidation by different pathways, we recently observed that the antiandrogen Casodex, which is known to block androgen binding to its receptor in LNCaP cells (54), diminished the inhibitory effect of DHT on androgen glucuronidation (32), but had no effect on EGF action (unpublished data, Guillemette et al.).

The two isoforms UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 can glucuronidate 5{alpha}-reduced C19 steroids; however, it is apparent that UGT2B17 is the predominant enzyme for glucuronidating androgens in LNCaP cells. RNase protection analyses demonstrate that the level of UGT2B17 transcript is decreased in the presence of DHT and EGF; however, these effectors did not change the level of UGT2B15 mRNA. As expected, the effect of DHT and EGF was also observed at the protein level, where the decrease of UGT2B17 protein by 75% correlated with the decreased production of DHT-G by 73%. When the stability of the UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 proteins was assessed, it was apparent that UGT2B17, with a half-life of approximately 3 h, is much more labile than UGT2B15 that did not decrease in activity in LNCaP cells after incubation with cycloheximide for 24 h. The more rapid turnover of UGT2B17 indicates that the observed regulation by DHT and EGF to decrease the level of UGT2B17 mRNA in prostate cells would rapidly reduce the level of UGT2B17 protein and subsequently alter the concentration of androgens.

It is apparent that the regulation by DHT and EGF occurs before protein translation and may be at the level of gene transcription. In the rat UGT2B1 and UGT2B2 genes, hormone responsive elements for steroid nuclear receptor binding were not found in the 5'-flanking region of the genes (55, 56). However, the presence of putative DNA binding sites for activating protein-1 (AP-1) was reported. Interestingly, growth factor receptor activation has been shown to induce AP-1 expression, and interactions between AP-1 proteins (c-Fos and c-Jun) and steroid hormone receptors have been reported (57, 58, 59, 60). To date, the transcriptional regulation of human UGT2B gene expression has not been characterized. Because there is evidence that transcription of a gene can be regulated by different signal transduction pathways, the implication of one or more common factors in the regulation of UGT by androgens and EGF is also possible and may explain the similar inhibitory effect observed.

In conclusion, an important finding from the present study is that several factors involved in the regulation of tumor proliferation and progression, can regulate UGT2B17 expression. The inhibitory effect of androgens and growth factors on androgen glucuronidation may enhance the proliferation of androgen-dependent tumors because a decrease in the glucuronidation of DHT or its 5{alpha}-reduced metabolites can favor an accumulation of DHT. In addition, our data strongly suggest that UGT2B17 represents an important key element in the pathway of steroid metabolism in extrahepatic steroid target tissues.


    Acknowledgments
 
We thank Dr. Pei Min Rong for technical assistance in protein purification and immunoblot analysis.


    Footnotes
 
1 This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) of Canada, the Fonds de la recherche en Santé du Québec, and Endorecherche. Back

2 These authors contributed equally. Back

3 Holder of a scholarship from the MRC of Canada. Back

Received December 23, 1996.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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