AIMTo investigate the mechanism of androgen-independent growth of prostate cancer after androgen ablation in LNCaP cells and the effect of glucuronidation activity.

METHODSTo establish androgen-independent growth in prostate cancer LNCaP-SF, continuous passage was performed in androgen-stripped medium and the cells were evaluated for glucuronidation activity. The expression vector of antisense uridine diphosphate glucuronosyl-transferase (UGT) 2B15 cDNA was also constructed and evaluated.

RESULTSLNCaP-SF lead to a higher expression in UGT2B15 and their glucuronidation activity is 2.5 times higher than that of LNCaP cells. Significantly fewer LNCaP and LNCaP-SF than control were transfected with the antisense UGT2B15 cDNA, suggesting that UGT2B15 plays an important part in the glucuronidation activity of androgens in both cells.

CONCLUSIONThe alteration of UGT2B15 expression in LNCaP-SF cells is proposed as a biological characteristic involved in the growth of hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Androgens ; metabolism ; Cell Division ; physiology ; DNA, Antisense ; Glucuronic Acid ; metabolism ; Glucuronosyltransferase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Transfection ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; cytology ; enzymology