The inhibitor of DNA binding protein 4 (ID4) is a dominant negative regulator of basic helix loop helix (bHLH) family of transcription factors. Benezra, 1990 #1 Recently, Patel et al., demonstrated that inhibitor of differentiation 4 (ID4) acts as a tumor suppressor and its loss, frequently observed in prostate cancer, promotes castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) through constitutive androgen receptor (AR) activation. Patel, 2014 #4 However, the mechanism by which loss of ID4 promotes constitutively active AR signaling in the CRPC conditions is unknown. The rationale of the present study was to unravel the underlying molecular mechanisms through which loss of ID4 potentiates AR signaling in this setting. Initially, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay results demonstrated a significant increase in binding of AR to its respective response elements on PSA, FKBP51, TMPRSS2, and ETV1 promoters in L(-)ID4 cells, further implicating constitutive AR activity. Among the notable findings, proteomic profiling between prostate cancer cell line LNCaP (L+ns) and LNCaP lacking ID4 (L(-)ID4) revealed elevated protein levels of Heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) and the 52-kDa FK506-binding protein (FKBP52), suggesting a role for these AR-associated co-chaperones in promoting constitutively active AR signaling in L(-)ID4 cells. Interestingly, protein interaction studies further confirmed a direct interaction between ID4 and FKBP52 in vitro but not with AR. Recent evidences suggest that FKBP52 is a positive regulator of AR signaling in cellular and whole animal models.Guy, 2015 #5 Thus, we hypothesized that ID4 acts as a tumor suppressor by selectively regulating AR activity through interaction with FKBP52. To address the underlying mechanism, we blocked the FKBP52-AR signaling using a specific inhibitory compound known as MJC13. Storer Samaniego, 2015 #6, De Leon, 2011 #8 The results demonstrated that MJC13 effectively inhibited AR-dependent expression and activity in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, xenograft studies further confirmed that inhibiting FKBP52-regulated AR activity via MJC13 significantly attenuated the growth of subcutaneous L(-)ID4 xenografts in vivo. Collectively, our results suggested that ID4 selectively regulates AR activity through direct interaction with FKBP52 in vitro, and, its loss promotes CRPC through FKBP52-mediated AR signaling. Increased AR signaling along with a subsequent decrease in ID4 expression levels in prostate cancer strongly supports this model. KEY TERMS: ID4, Androgen Receptor, PSA, FKBP52, MJC13, Castration Resistant, Cancer Biology, Cell Biology, Laboratory and Basic Science Research, Molecular Biology
