Potent increased risk of the initiation of DNA replication in human prostate cancer with the use of 5α-reductase inhibitors.

Recent clinical studies have raised the clinically important question of the relationship between dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and prostate cancer (PCa) progression. The significance of DHT or 5α-reductase inhibitors (5ARI) in PCa development and progression has not yet been fully characterized. The aim of this study was to determine whether the initiation of DNA replication was influenced by DHT in PCa. Three cell lines were used. LNCaP: a human PCa cell line that exhibits androgen-dependent proliferation, C4-2: a human PCa cell line that exhibits androgen-independent proliferation, and C4-2AT6: a castration resistant prostate cancer cell line. Two 5ARIs, finasteride and dutasteride, were used. We examined the mRNA expression of the components of pre-replication complex (Pre-RC), CDC6, CDT1, and MCM2-7. DHT induced cell proliferation of LNCaP accompanied by significantly increased CDC6, CDT1, and MCM2-7 expression. In contrast to LNCaP, DHT inhibited cell proliferation in C4-2AT6 cells accompanied by decreased expression of CDC6, CDT1, and MCM2-7. These reverse effects resemble the effects of 5ARIs in Pre-RC. Treatment with finasteride or dutasteride inhibited CDC6 expression in LNCaP, but both 5ARIs induced CDC6 expression in C4-2 and C4-2AT6 cells.These results indicate that DHT showed reversal effects on PCa cell proliferation among prostate cancer cells based on androgen-dependence, accompanied by regulation of the initiation of DNA replication. 5ARIs may modulate the DNA replication system in someaggressive PCa through up-regulation of CDC6 expression.