Abstract B019: Androgen receptor-regulated lncRNA PRCAT71 promotes AR signaling through the interaction with RBPs in prostate cancer
Authors: Yang Yongyong , Wang Ting-You , Li Qianru , Weiner Adam B , Lu Jiawen , Ren Yanan , Guo Qingxiang , Yum Chaehyun , Liu Qi , Wang Rui , Ji Zhe , Lotan Tamara L , Schaeffer Edward M , Yang Rendong , Cao Qi 
Published: November 2024

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. PCa patients usually receive androgen deprivation therapy but eventually, they will relapse and tumors become castration-resistant PCa (CRPC) without effective treatments, highlighting the urgent need to develop better therapeutics to target advanced PCa. The main mechanism identified leading to castration resistance is aberrant androgen receptor (AR) reactivation, including AR overexpression. Approximately 80% of CRPC patients have a marked increase in AR mRNA and protein expression. Emerging evidence suggests genomic and transcriptomic changes insufficiently predict biology and mRNA and protein expression levels frequently do not correlate. Posttranscriptional regulation of AR mRNA can lead to AR overexpression. RNA binding proteins (RBPs) and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), can control gene expression via direct binding to mRNAs and regulating mRNA processing, modification, and translation. Here in this study, we identified a novel PCa-specific lncRNA, PRCAT71, which is higher expressed in prostate tumor tissues than in benign tissues. Silencing PRCAT71 suppressed the cancerous properties of PCa cells, and reduced AR mRNA and protein expression levels, leading to inhibited AR signaling. We further uncovered that PRCAT71 formed an RNA-RNA duplex with AR mRNA, which enhanced the stability of AR mRNA. RNA pulldown assay identified PRCAT71- interacted RBPs. Silencing PRCAT71 reduced the interaction between key RBPs and AR mRNA, which is related to PRCAT71 regulating AR mRNA stability. Interestingly, PRCAT71 is transcriptionally regulated by AR-driven enhancers, thus forming a positive regulatory loop between AR and PRCAT71 in PCa. The high expression of PRCAT71 and key RBPs in PCa tumors are positively correlated with PSA level, AR activity and indicate worse patient overall survival and metastasis-free survival. Our study revealed a novel regulatory mechanism by which lncRNA PRCAT71 enhances the interaction of key RBPs with AR mRNA, stabilizes AR mRNA and promotes AR expression and PCa progression. Targeting PRCAT71-RBPs is a promising approach to treating CRPC.

Citation Format: Yongyong Yang, Ting-You Wang, Qianru Li, Adam B Weiner, Jiawen Lu, Yanan Ren, Qingxiang Guo, Chaehyun Yum, Qi Liu, Rui Wang, Zhe Ji, Tamara L Lotan, Edward M Schaeffer, Rendong Yang, Qi Cao. Androgen receptor-regulated lncRNA PRCAT71 promotes AR signaling through the interaction with RBPs in prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: RNAs as Drivers, Targets, and Therapeutics in Cancer; 2024 Nov 14-17; Bellevue, Washington. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2024;23(11_Suppl):Abstract nr B019.