Proliferative response of human prostate cancer cell to the hormones inhibited by androgen receptor antisense RNA

Objective To investigate the effects of AR antisense RNA on growth of LNCaP cultured in medium containing varied concentrations of R1881,17β-estradiol and progesterone. Methods LNCaP cells transfected with AR antisense RNA retroviral vector pL-AR-SN were designed as LNCaP as-AR.LNCaP cells containing empty vector pLXSN were designed as LNCaP Neo.LNCaP and LNCaP Neo were taken as controls.In vitro cell growth assay,proliferative cells of LNCaP and transfected LNCaPs were stained with trypan blue and then counted when they were cultured with R1881(synthetic androgen),17β-estradiol and progesterone. Results Growth of LNCaP as-AR was inhibited significantly (P0.05) compared with that of LNCaP and LNCaP Neo at 1 nmol/L R1881,10 nmol/L 17β-estradiol and 1 nmol/L progesterone,respectively.There was no significant difference in cell proliferation between LNCaP and LNCaP Neo(P0.05).Microscopic observation showed that LNCaP and LNCaP Neo cells grew well,but only few LNCaP as-AR cells were alive and much more cells died. Conclusions AR antisense RNA retroviral vector pL-AR-SN can change androgen-independent characteristics of LNCaP cells,which may shed a novel insight into the treatment of androgen-independent prostate cancer.