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P-Rex1 Promotes Resistance to VEGF/VEGFR-Targeted Therapy in Prostate Cancer

Goel, Hira Lal
Pursell, Bryan M.
Shultz, Leonard D.
Greiner, Dale L.
Brekken, Rolf A.
Vander Kooi, Craig W.
Mercurio, Arthur M.
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Abstract

Autocrine VEGF signaling is critical for sustaining prostate and other cancer stem cells (CSCs), and it is a potential therapeutic target, but we observed that CSCs isolated from prostate tumors are resistant to anti-VEGF (bevacizumab) and anti-VEGFR (sunitinib) therapy. Intriguingly, resistance is mediated by VEGF/neuropilin signaling, which is not inhibited by bevacizumab and sunitinib, and it involves the induction of P-Rex1, a Rac GEF, and consequent Rac1-mediated ERK activation. This induction of P-Rex1 is dependent on Myc. CSCs isolated from the PTEN(pc-/-) transgenic model of prostate cancer exhibit Rac1-dependent resistance to bevacizumab. Rac1 inhibition or P-Rex1 downregulation increases the sensitivity of prostate tumors to bevacizumab. These data reveal that prostate tumors harbor cells with stem cell properties that are resistant to inhibitors of VEGF/VEGFR signaling. Combining the use of available VEGF/VEGFR-targeted therapies with P-Rex1 or Rac1 inhibition should improve the efficacy of these therapies significantly.

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Cell Rep. 2016 Mar 8;14(9):2193-208. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.02.016. Epub 2016 Feb 25.

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DOI
10.1016/j.celrep.2016.02.016
PubMed ID
26923603
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<p>This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).</p>