Metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) remains a major clinical challenge. Although androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is effective in treating PCa, majority of the patients quickly develop resistance to therapy and the tumor relapses as hormone refractory castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Men with CRPC frequently progress to an aggressive lethal disease that metastasizes to bones and other visceral organs accounting for high morbidity and mortality. Transcriptional activation of steroid receptor coactivator-2 (SRC-2; also known as NCOA2/TIF2/GRIP1) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of PCa by driving a metabolic switch towards de novo fatty acid biosynthesis. Although increased lipogenesis is a known hallmark of hormone refractory PCa progression, it is less clear how mitochondrial enzymes communicate with nuclear receptor coregulators to rapidly fuel and support fat biosynthesis. Our preliminary findings indicate that sustained activity of mitochondrial aconitase (ACO2) enzyme is critical for regulating citrate synthesis. We found that acetylation of ACO2 is essential for enzyme functions, which is negatively regulated by sirtuin-3 (SIRT3). In human prostate cancer patients, SIRT3 expression is repressed and increased expression of SRC-2 with concomitant reduction of SIRT3 was found to be a genetic hallmark in metastatic PCa. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the transcriptional coregulator SRC-2 drives the nuclear-mitochondrial regulatory axis by repressing tumor suppressor SIRT3 thus promoting prostate tumor survival and metastasis competence. So our objectives in this proposal are (1) to investigate the mechanisms regulating sustained activation of mitochondrial ACO2 to promote lipogenesis, (2) define the role of nuclear receptor coregulator SRC-2 regulating SIRT3 expression, and (3) evaluate the impact of this nuclear-mitochondrial regulatory axis on prostate tumor survival and adaptation leading to bone colonization and growth. Our study will uncover molecular links between mitochondrial metabolism and transcriptional regulation that enables hormone refractory PCa adaptation, survival and ultimately metastatic competency.

Majority of the patients with aggressive prostate cancer develop resistance to therapy and the tumor metastasizes to bones and other visceral organs accounting for high morbidity and mortality. The goal of this project is to define the underlying mechanisms that promote the survival and colonization of prostate tumor cells in the bone microenvironment. Our study will uncover molecular links between mitochondrial metabolism and transcriptional regulation that enables PCa adaptation, survival and ultimately metastatic competency.