Transforming growth factor-beta induces growth inhibition and IGF-binding protein-3 production in prostatic stromal cells: abnormalities in cells cultured from benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues.

The IGF axis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) via the paracrine action of IGFs and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs). In this study, we examined the regulation of cell growth and IGFBP-3 secretion by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in prostatic stromal cell (PC-S) cultures from histologically normal tissues and tissues from BPH. PC-S cultures were treated with varying doses of TGF-beta1. Forty-eight hour conditioned media (CM) from these cultures were subjected to Western immunoblotting and ligand blotting for detection and quantification of IGFBPs. IGFBPs-2, -3 and -4 were detected in the CM from normal PC-S cultures. In CM from BPH PC-S, IGFBP-3 levels were 2-fold lower at baseline than in the normal PC-S CM, in addition to the differences in IGFBPs-2 and -5 which we have previously reported. In response to TGF-beta1, a 15-fold increase in the levels of IGFBP-3 was observed in normal PC-S CM, while a mere 2-fold increase was observed in BPH PC-S CM (P<0.001). These findings were confirmed by specific immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry. IGFBP-3 mRNA levels detected by Northern blotting of total RNA extracted from similar cultures showed the induction of IGFBP-3 expression by TGF-beta1 in normal PC-S and its lack of induction in BPH PC-S. Cell growth inhibition in response to TGF-beta1 correlated with the IGFBP-3 concentrations found in CM. Normal PC-S showed a 60% decrease in cell number after 10 days in media with 1 ng/ml TGF-beta1, compared with the untreated control. The decrease in proliferation observed in comparably treated BPH cells was only 20% (P<0.001). In conclusion, BPH PC-S had a reduced IGFBP-3 response to TGF-beta1 and demonstrated decreased TGF-beta1-induced growth inhibition relative to normal PC-S. We hypothesize that in normal PC-S, TGF-beta exerts its anti-proliferative effects by stimulating the production of IGFBP-3, which acts as an inhibitory factor, either by inhibiting IGFs or directly by interacting with cells, and that this process is altered in BPH PC-S.