Gene expression profiles of I3C- and DIM-treated PC3 human prostate cancer cells determined by cDNA microarray analysis.

Studies from our laboratory and others have shown that indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and its in vivo dimeric product, 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM), inhibit the growth of PC3 prostate cancer cells and induce apoptosis by inhibiting nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and Akt pathways. To obtain comprehensive gene expression profiles altered by I3C- and DIM-treated PC3 cells, we utilized cDNA microarray to interrogate the expression of 22,215 known genes using the Affymetrix Human Genome U133A Array. We found a total of 738 genes that showed a greater than twofold change after 24 h of DIM treatment. Among these genes, 677 genes were down-regulated and 61 were up-regulated. Similarly, 727 genes showed a greater than twofold change in expression, with down-regulation of 685 genes and up-regulation of 42 genes in I3C-treated cells. The altered expressions of genes were observed as early as 6 h and were more evident with longer treatment. Upon cluster analysis, we found that both I3C and DIM up-regulated the expression of genes that are related to the Phase I and Phase II enzymes, suggesting their increased capacity for detoxification of carcinogens or chemicals. We also found that I3C and DIM down-regulated the expression of genes that are critically involved in the regulation of cell growth, cell cycle, apoptosis, signal transduction, Pol II transcription factor and oncogenesis. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis was conducted to confirm the cDNA microarray data, and the results were consistent. We conclude that I3C and DIM affected the expression of a large number of genes that are related to the control of carcinogenesis, cell survival and physiologic behaviors. This may help determine the molecular mechanism(s) by which I3C and DIM exert their pleiotropic effects on PC3 prostate cancer cells; in addition, this information could be further exploited for devising chemopreventive and/or therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer.