Stromal-epithelial interaction induces GALNT14 in prostate carcinoma cells

Elena D Czyrnik; Marc Wiesehöfer; Jaroslaw T Dankert; Sven Wach; Mathias Wagner; Martin Spahn; Marianna Kruithof de Julio; Gunther Wennemuth

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1212585

Stromal-epithelial interaction induces GALNT14 in prostate carcinoma cells

Front Oncol. 2023 Aug 21:13:1212585. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1212585. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Elena D Czyrnik¹, Marc Wiesehöfer¹, Jaroslaw T Dankert¹, Sven Wach², Mathias Wagner³, Martin Spahn^{4

5}, Marianna Kruithof de Julio^{6

7}, Gunther Wennemuth¹

Affiliations

¹ University Hospital Essen, Department of Anatomy, Essen, Germany.
² Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
³ University Hospital Saarland, Department of General and Special Pathology, Homburg, Germany.
⁴ Lindenhofspital Bern, Department of Urology, Bern, Switzerland.
⁵ University Hospital Essen, Department of Urology, Essen, Germany.
⁶ Department for BioMedical Research, Urology Research Laboratory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Urology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.

Abstract

Introduction: Cell-cell communication is an important process in healthy tissue but also gains enhanced attention regarding pathological tissue. To date, the tumor microenvironment is gradually brought into focus when studying tumorigenesis. In the prostate gland, stromal and epithelial cells greatly interact to maintain homeostasis or tissue integrity. This study focuses on an indirect communication via soluble factors.

Methods: To investigate the cell-cell interaction via soluble factors, the prostate carcinoma cell line LNCaP and the stromal primary cells p21 were co-cultured without direct contact and RNA was isolated at defined time points. Differences in gene expression were finally analyzed by RNA sequencing.

Results: RNA sequencing revealed a time-depending differential expression profile. Selected factors were subsequently characterized at molecular level and analyzed in human prostate tissue of different developmental stages as well as pathology. GALNT14 was one of the highest induced co-culture-specific genes in LNCaP cells. Detection in healthy tissue and BPH revealed an age-dependent decrease in GALNT14 expression. Moreover, in prostate carcinoma, GALNT14 expression heavily varied independent of the Gleason score.

Conclusion: Overall, this work provides a basis for further studies related to paracrine stromal-epithelial interaction in prostate carcinoma and highlights the importance of GALNT14.

Keywords: GALNT14; co-culture; paracrine interaction; prostate carcinoma; prostate tissue; stromal-epithelial interaction.