The Anticancer Effect of Theranekron® on Androgen-Dependent Prostate Cancer Cells

INTRODUCTION: Prostate cancer (PCa) is a significant health problem in men worldwide. Although there are numerous treatment choices for PCa, acquired resistance limits the success of treatment. Therefore, there is a need for new approaches as a powerful resource for use in an alternative or supportive therapeutic strategy for anti-cancer therapeutics. Theranekron® is a commercially available alcoholic extract of Tarantula cubensis. Recent studies showed the potent anticancer effect of theranekron in human tumors, including PCa. Herein, we comparatively examined the anti-proliferative activity of theranekron and biochemical action on androgenic signal and cell cycle-related cyclin proteins in androgen-dependent PCa cells, LNCaP, VCaP and 22Rv1.
METHODS: Human androgen-dependent PCa cells, LNCaP (CRL-1740™), 22Rv1 (CRL-2505™) and VCaP (CRL-2876™) were used to evaluate the effect of theranekron in vitro. The impact of theranekron on cell viability was evaluated by WST-1 based viability test. Its impact on AR, cyclin A2, cyclin B1 and cyclin E1 was examined by immunoblotting studies. To test the anti-malignant effect of theranekron on 3D tumor formation of PCa cells was tested by soft agar assay.
RESULTS: Our results indicated that theranekron treatment significantly reduced the viability of PCa cells. It remarkably decreased the protein levels of AR, cyclin A2, cyclin B1 and cyclin E1 in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, theranekron administration strongly limited the 3D tumor formation of LNCaP, 22Rv1 and VCaP cells.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our findings strongly suggest that theranekron may offer potent therapeutic efficacy against androgen-dependent PCa cells. Moreover, it may be a potent component for preventing the acquired resistance to chemotherapeutics.