Genistein has protective effects against prostate cancer (PCa) but whether this protection involves an estrogen receptor (ER) β dependent mechanism has yet to be elucidated. ER-β has a tumor suppressor role in PCa and its levels decline with cancer progression which was linked to ER-β promoter hypermethylation. Genistein has been suggested to have demethylating activities in cancer. However, the ability of genistein to reverse ER-β promoter hypermethylation in PCa has not been studied. In addition, there are great discrepancies among studies that examined the effect of genistein on ER-β gene expression. Therefore, we sought to explore effects of genistein on ER-β promoter methylation as a mechanism of modulating ER-β expression using three PCa cell lines, LNCaP, LAPC-4 and PC-3. We also examined the role of ER-β in mediating the preventive action of genistein. Our data demonstrated that genistein at physiological ranges (0.5-10 μmol/L) reduced ER-β promoter methylation significantly with corresponding dose-dependent increases in ER-β expression in LNCaP and LAPC-4 but not in PC-3 cells, which could be attributed to the low basal levels of ER-β promoter methylation in PC-3 cell line. Genistein induced phosphorylation, nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity of ER-β in all three PCa cell lines. Inhibitory effects of genistein on LAPC-4 and PC-3 cell proliferation were diminished using a specific ER-β antagonist. In conclusion, genistein and ER-β act together to prevent PCa cell proliferation; genistein increases ER-β levels via reducing its promoter methylation and ER-β, in turn, mediates the preventive action of genistein.
Keywords: Estrogen receptor β; Genistein; Promoter methylation; Prostate cancer.
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