Abstract 1047: Novel roles for manganese superoxide dismutase polymorphisms in prostate cancer

Prostate Cancer is the most common non-cutaneous cancer and second leading cause of cancer related death in American men. Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), a key event in prostate cancer metastasis, is a process in which polarized epithelial cells undergo biochemical changes, allowing them to assume mesenchymal morphologies, enhancing invasiveness and migration. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are chemically reactive molecules of cellular metabolism that induce oxidative stress, and increase levels of SNAI1 (Snail) transcription factor while also promoting EMT. In Phase II clinical trials, patients were treated with natural product, Muscadine Grape Skin Extract (MSKE), and patients with SOD2 Ala/Ala single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) responded better than those with Val/Val SNP. Ala/Ala SNP is associated with higher dismutase activity [superoxide (O2-) to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)] than Val/Val. We hypothesize that SOD2 Ala/Ala genotype is associated with increased H2O2 and EMT, potentially antagonized by MSKE in prostate cancer cells. Prostate cancer cell lines were analyzed for SOD2 SNPs by pyrosequencing. Site-directed mutagenesis was conducted to create the Ala/Ala and Val/Val SNP vectors. LNCaP prostate cancer cells were transiently and subsequently stably transfected with SOD2 Val/Val cDNA, as well as empty vector (Neo) control, and verified through western blot analysis. ROS activity was evaluated for baseline ROS activity. Our results showed that most prostate cancer cell lines were heterozygous for SOD2 SNP (Ala/Val), although several had extra copies, for example, LNCaP had Val/Val/Ala, suggesting multiple copy numbers. Only metastatic MDA PCa 2a and MDA PCa 2b contained Ala/Ala homozygous SNP. LNCaP cells transiently and stably transfected with Val/Val showed partial induction of EMT, concomitant with higher levels of Snail and Vimentin, as compared to LNCaP Neo control. Furthermore, data also suggested that transient transfection marginally affected ROS activity while stable transfection caused significant changes in ROS activity compared to LNCaP Neo cells. We have begun to stably transfect Ala/Ala cDNA into LNCaP cells and are interested to see the differences in ROS activity and EMT induction between the two clone cell types (LNCaP Ala/Ala and Val/Val). As previous data suggests, we believe that Ala/Ala will show a higher expression of SOD2 and mesenchymal markers Snail and Vimentin, demonstrating full induction of EMT. In future we will test ROS activity, EMT marker expression in response to treatment of LNCaP Ala/Ala and Val/Val cells with MSKE. These studies may uncover the differential functions and response to treatment of SOD2 SNPs. Acknowledgements: These studies were supported by the NIH/NIMHD/RCI Grant #5G12MD007590-31, NIH/NIGMS/RISE Grant #5R25GM060414, and https://www.thecommunityfoundation.org/ Citation Format: Janae D. Sweeney, Valerie Odero-Marah, Channing Paller. Novel roles for manganese superoxide dismutase polymorphisms in prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1047.