Regulation of prostate cancer immunity-related genes in PC3 prostate cancer cells by ETS-1

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer affecting males worldwide, and knowledge of the immune defenses involved in PCa remains incomplete. Since the identification of immunity-related genes may have enormous implications for the understanding of PCa immunology, we recently reported the identification of immunity-related genes in PCa tissues and found potential binding sites for the ETS family prototype, ETS-1, in the majority of genes identified. Therefore, as a continuation of our previous study, we investigated whether ETS-1 regulates these genes in an in vitro PCa cell line model, PC3 cells. We specifically blocked ETS-1 in PC3 cells by transfection with an ETS-1 inverse antisense expression vector or a mock control vector. We then assessed the effect of the blockade on the expression of the recently identified PCa immunity-related genes using a comprehensive oligo gene expression microarray analysis. The results showed that ETS-1 is involved in the activation or repression of the recently identified immunity-related genes in PCa. These findings provide insights into the regulation of immunity-related genes in PCa, and emphasize the importance of ETS-1 in prostate cancer immunology.