Expression profile of apoptosis pathway-specific genes of prostate cancer cells and different apoptosis susceptibility

Objective To determine whether altered expression of apoptosis pathway genes is related to different apoptosis susceptibility of prostate cancer cells. Methods Androgen sensitive and insensitive prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP and PC 3 were cultured and treated by etoposide,and apoptosis were determined using Hoechst 33258 staining.The cells were harvested and the total RNA was extracted.cDNA probes were prepared and labeled with biotin 16 dUTP,then hybridized to commercially available cDNA arrays including apoptosis pathway specific genes. Results Apoptosis were induced in both PC 3 and LNCaP cells by etoposide,however,PC 3 was more resistant than LNCaP.Compared with LNCaP cells,the 4 fold down regulated genes in PC 3 cells were Bcl10,CIDE A,GADD45a,RIP2,caspase 4,5 and 6,while the 4 fold up regulated gene in PC 3 cells was TRAF4.Caspase 14 and TNFR2 were most strongly expressed genes in the 2 cell lines. Conclusions The altered expressions of apoptosis pathway specific genes are related to the different apoptosis susceptibility,and this may make an important contribution to androgen insensitive state of prostate cancer cells.