Aberrant overexpression of ERG induced by the TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion is likely involved in the development of prostate cancer. Synthetic pyrrole-imidazole (PI) polyamides recognize and attach to the minor groove of DNA with high affinity and specificity. In the present study, we designed a PI polyamide targeting TMPRSS2-ERG translocation breakpoints and assessed its effect on human prostate cancer cells. Our study identified that this PI polyamide repressed the cell and tumor growth of androgen-sensitive LNCaP prostate cancer cells. Targeting of these breakpoint sequences by PI polyamides could be a novel approach for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Keywords: Androgen receptor; TMPRSS2-ERG; fusion gene; prostate cancer; pyrrole-imidazole polyamide.
© 2014 The Authors. Cancer Science published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.