Neuropeptides, apoptosis and ion changes in prostate cancer: methods of study and recent developments
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
Universidad de Murcia
Materia
Prostate cancer X-ray microanalysis Ions Apoptosis Neuropeptides
Date
2004Referencia bibliográfica
Vilches, J.; et al. Neuropeptides, apoptosis and ion changes in prostate cancer: methods of study and recent developments. Histology and Histopathology, 19(3): 951-961 (2004). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/30770]
Sponsorship
This work was partially supported by an Instituto de Salud Carlos III Grant (FIS 01/0727).Abstract
It has been suggested that neuroendocrine
(NE) cells provide paracrine stimuli for the propagation
of local carcinoma cells and that NE differentiation is
associated with the progression of prostate cancer
toward an androgen-independent state. Apoptosis
comprises a critical intracellular defense mechanism
against tumorigenic growth and is associated with a
number of changes in the elemental content of the cell.
The neuropeptides bombesin and calcitonin, which
inhibit etoposide-induced apoptosis, also inhibit the
etoposide-induced elemental changes in prostate
carcinoma cells. This important fact strengthens the link
between apoptosis and changes in the intracellular
elemental content. This protective effect on etoposideinduced
apoptosis appears to be quite similar in
androgen-dependent and androgen-independent cell
lines. This confirms that neuropeptides confer
antiapoptotic capabilities on non-neuroendocrine cells in
close proximity to neuroendocrine cells. It can therefore
be speculated that certain neuroendocrine peptides can
increase the survival and further growth of neighboring
cells and may thereby contribute to the aggressive
clinical course of prostate tumors containing
neuroendocrine elements. In addition, this correlation
provides an objective basis for the study of neuropeptide
target points and may be helpful for alternative
therapeutic protocols using neuropeptide inhibitors in the
treatment of patients with advanced prostatic carcinoma.
The culture techniques described were, thus, designed in
order to achieve two important goals. First, the
development of an in vitro model that allows an
approach to neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate
cancer and its role in apoptosis blockage. Second, the
method has been designed in order to permit rapid
cryofixation of intact cell monolayers for subsequent xray
microanalysis.