Abstract 6268: A study of orphan nuclear receptor SHP (NR0B2) in prostate cancer progression
Authors: Lam Hau Tak Daniel , Chan Franky Leung 
Published: March 2024

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a significant male cancer in many countries accounting for around 14% of new cancer cases globally in 2020 and ranked as 3rd common cancer in males in Hong Kong. The major risk factors include old age, high-fat diet, and genetics. Compared to other cancers, PCa is unique as its initial and advanced growth is androgen dependent. As tumor progresses, it accumulates numerous genetic alterations. Main therapeutic options include surgery, radiotherapy and or active surveillance. Upon treatment failure or when metastasis develops, androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) with the use of potent androgen receptor (AR) antagonists and androgen biosynthesis inhibitors (e.g. Enzalutamide and abiraterone acetate) aiming to suppress AR signaling axis are the standard treatment options. However, the effect of these treatments is short-lived, in which nearly all patients will inevitably relapse to a hormone-independent and metastatic stage known as metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) within few years and further drive progression to a more lethal subtype, described as treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). The treatment options are limited and therefore resulted in high mortality, representing an emerging clinical problem. Recent studies have illustrated that NEPC progression follows a lineage plasticity model with a phenotypic transition to AR loss and neuroendocrine transdifferentiation. Our preliminary study has identified a nuclear receptor NR0B2 (SHP, small heterodimer partner SHP), which is a unique ligand-independent orphan nuclear receptor without a DNA-binding domain, that displays a significant up-regulation in clinical NEPC and prostate cancer cells with NEPC phenotype. Mechanistic studies revealed that SHP could directly interact with AR utilizing its NR Box1 motif while inducing repression on the AR transactivation via its another NR Box2 motif. Based on this, we conducted in vitro growth studies and revealed that NR0B2 overexpression could promote growth differentially in AR-negative PCa cells. However, AR-positive PCa cells were insensitive to AR blockade, providing supporting evidence that NR0B2 may be involved in repressing AR activity in prostate cancer cells. Multiple key NEPC and oncogenic TGFβ signaling markers showed significant upregulation in gene expression. Based on this, we hypothesize that upregulation of NR0B2 could play an important role in driving the advanced progression of CRPC via its direct interference of AR signaling axis and through other AR-independent signaling pathways, including activation of TGFβ signaling. (Study supported by a CUHK Direct Grant for Research 2022-2023, Project No. 2022.081)

Citation Format: Hau Tak Daniel Lam, Franky Leung Chan. A study of orphan nuclear receptor SHP (NR0B2) in prostate cancer progression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 6268.