Androgen-responsive long noncoding RNA CTBP1-AS promotes prostate cancer

High-throughput techniques have identified numerous antisense (AS) transcripts and long non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). However, their significance in cancer biology remains largely unknown.

Here, researchers at the University of Tokyo, Japan report an androgen-responsive long ncRNA, CTBP1-AS, located in the AS region of C-terminal binding protein 1 (CTBP1), which is a corepressor for androgen receptor. CTBP1-AS is predominantly localized in the nucleus and its expression is generally upregulated in prostate cancer. CTBP1-AS promotes both hormone-dependent and castration-resistant tumour growth. Mechanistically, CTBP1-AS directly represses CTBP1 expression by recruiting the RNA-binding transcriptional repressor PSF together with histone deacetylases. CTBP1-AS also exhibits global androgen-dependent functions by inhibiting tumour-suppressor genes via the PSF-dependent mechanism thus promoting cell cycle progression. These findings provide new insights into the functions of ncRNAs that directly contribute to prostate cancer progression.

• Takayam K et al. (2013) Androgen-responsive long noncoding RNA CTBP1-AS promotes prostate cancer. The EMBO Journal [Epub ahead of print]. [abstract]