Urokinase-mediated extracellular matrix degradation by human prostatic carcinoma cells and its inhibition by retinoic acid.

Both normal and malignant prostatic epithelial cells in culture secrete urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) into the culture medium. u-PA has been shown to have a direct association with invasive and metastatic potential of many types of cancers. We propose that prostate cancer has the intrinsic ability to invade and metastasize because of its inherent ability to secrete the serine protease u-PA. We further propose that in prostate cancer, u-PA is the key enzyme which occupies a place at the apex of the proteolytic cascade and initiates the degradative process. Subsequently, collagenases are recruited after activation of procolla-genases by another serine protease plasmin formed by the activation of plasminogen by u-PA. Extracellular proteolysis involving plasmin can cause massive degradation of the extracellular matrix. We show that u-PA alone can use fibronectin as a substrate and degrade it, but u-PA alone did not degrade laminin. Serum-free conditioned medium from DU-145 human prostatic carcinoma cells has the ability to degrade both fibronectin and laminin. However, treatment of cultures with 1 microM all-trans retinoic acid (RA) for 48 h reduced the ability of serum-free conditioned medium to cause u-PA-mediated degradation of fibronectin and laminin. Thus, RA had a protective effect on these extracellular matrix glycoproteins. Treatment of cells with RA also decreased their ability to invade Matrigel in the in vitro invasion assay in a dose-dependent manner. RA at the 0.5, 1, and 10 microM level reduced invasion to 65.7%, 46.7%, and 34.3% of control, respectively. RA reduced extracellular proteolysis and thus inhibited extracellular matrix degradation and invasion. These results may also explain one mechanism by which retinoids inhibit invasion and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. These studies have important translational value in the chemoprevention of progression of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia to invasive carcinoma.