AGE/RAGE/Akt pathway contributes to prostate cancer cell proliferation by promoting Rb phosphorylation and degradation.

Metabolomic research has revealed that metabolites play an important role in prostate cancer development and progression. Previous studies have suggested that prostate cancer cell proliferation is induced by advanced glycation end products (AGEs) exposure, but the mechanism of this induction remains unknown. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the proliferative response of prostate cancer cell to the interaction of AGEs and the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). To investigate this mechanism, we used Western blotting to evaluate the responses of the retinoblastoma (Rb), p-Rb and PI3K/Akt pathway to AGEs stimulation. We also examined the effect of knocking down Rb and blocking the PI3K/Akt pathway on AGEs induced PC-3 cell proliferation. Our results indicated that AGE-RAGE interaction enhanced Rb phosphorylation and subsequently decreased total Rb levels. Bioinformatics analysis further indicated a negative correlation between RAGE and RB1 expression in prostate cancer tissue. Furthermore, we observed that AGEs stimulation activated the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and that blocking PI3K/Akt signaling abrogated AGEs-induced cell proliferation. We report, for the first time, that AGE-RAGE interaction enhances prostate cancer cell proliferation by phosphorylation of Rb via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.