Introduction

Prostate cancer (PC) is an important public health problem that affects the male population. After lung cancer, PC is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men, the fifth cause of death by cancer worldwide, and nearly three-quarters of the registered cases occur in developed countries [1]. The causes of PC remain poorly understood and many gene products show deregulated functions during cancer progression. At diagnosis, patients with early stages of disease are frequently submitted to prostatectomy, external radiation and/or brachytherapy, which removes or destroys tumoral cells that are confined within the prostate [2]. However, despite recent advances in the early detection of localized PC tumors, there is little effective therapy for patients with locally advanced and/or metastatic disease. Patients diagnosed in advanced stages are currently submitted to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), due to the androgen dependency of prostate cells for continued growth and survival. However, it was found that in most patients the effects of this therapy typically last 18 to 24 months, after which the patients develop resistance to hormonal therapy and develop castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) [3]. Unfortunately, the CRPC treatment is limited, ineffective and the molecular mechanisms of its phenotype progression are not well understood. The CRPC is an invariably lethal condition, which frequently metastasize and is associated with a significant morbility and mortality [4].

Prostate cells require androgens in the cellular microenvironment to proliferate and differentiate. Nevertheless, PC progression and the acquisition of castration-resistant (CR) phenotypes have been associated with the activation of other signaling pathways mediated by growth factors that modulate the balance between the cell growth rate and apoptosis.

The TGFβ1 and its receptors are key components of the TGFβ signaling pathway, which has an important role in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. The signal transduction initiates with the TGFβ1 activation, then TGFβ1 binds to the type II receptor (TGFβRII), which then phosphorylates the type I receptor (TGFβRI), and activates its kinase. Phosphorylated TGFβRI, in its turn phosphorylates downstream elements of the signaling pathway. However the inhibitory SMAD7 has the capacity to bind to TGFβRI and effectively attenuate pathway activation [5]. In vitro studies have shown that in PC cells, the TGFβ1 signaling pathway has some defects and the restoration of this pathway can suppress tumor growth by inhibiting cell proliferation [6,7]. Reduced TGFBR2 expression levels are correlated with a shorter survival rate of colon cancer patients, as does the reduced expression of the co-receptor betaglycan in breast and PC patients [8,9]. High expression levels of TGFBR2 can mediate the pro-apoptotic function of the TGFβ1 signaling pathway and its loss promotes invasion and malignant transformation [10,11].

Alterations in TGFBR2 levels, with impact in the TGF β1 signaling pathway, might be involved in PC development/progression. A G > A transition in the -875 promoter position of the TGFBR2 gene was reported and it may enhance transcription activity in normal epithelial cells and might increase the expression of TGFBR2 gene [12]. Genetic variants, which modulate TGFBR2 expression, may have impact in PC development and prognosis. The present study is the first to evaluate the relevance of the TGFBR2-875G>A (rs3087465) functional polymorphism in CRPC patients.

Material and Methods

Results

The TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism genotype distribution in patients and controls is described in Table 1. The frequencies for AA/AG and GG genotypes were, respectively, 0.37 and 0.63 for PC patients and 0.38 and 0.62 in the control group. Observed versus expected genotype frequencies were calculated, and no deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was observed (PC group, P=0.877, control group, P=0.328). We observed no statistical significant association between the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism and PC risk (OR=1.05; 95% IC: 0.87-1.28; P=0.645) (Table 1).

Within the group of patients, the TGFBR2-875GG genotype was associated with higher Gleason grades (≥8) (OR=1.51, 95%CI: 1.07-2.16, P=0.019). Additionally, although the association was not statistically significant, there was a trend to an overrepresentation of the GG genotype in the CR group compared with the individuals without CR (OR= 1.41; 95%CI: 0.95-2.08; P = 0.084) (Table 2).

Concerning the time to CR after the beginning of ADT, we observed that the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism was associated with CR- free survival. We observed a significantly reduced time-to-CR in TGFBR2-875GG homozygous compared with AA/AG genotypes carriers (86.7 versus 102.4 months) (Log Rank test, P=0.032). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression model using tumor stage, Gleason≥ 8, and PSA levels at diagnosis as covariants, demonstrated a higher risk of earlier relapse in TGFBR2-875GG PC patients following ADT (hazard ratio- HR= 1.47, 95%CI: 1.05-2.05, P= 0.024) (Figure 1).

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Figure 1. Castration-resistant-free interval (CRFI) according to TGFBR2-875G>A genotypes in patients submitted to ADT.

Hazard ration using tumor stage (clinically localized vs locally advanced vs distant metastases, EAU Guidelines), Gleason≥ 8, and PSA levels at diagnosis as covariants.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072419.g001

The concordance (c) index was used to compare the predictive ability of different prognostic variables associated with CR development; the predictive value was assessed with Harrell’s concordance indexes, where a c-index of 1 indicates perfect concordance [15]. Tumor stage is a well-known prognostic factor for cancer progression. In our study the predictive value of combined tumor stage (Localized vs advanced) for CR development was 0.683 (Model 1). This predictive value increased to 0.736 with the addition of other variables to the predictive model such as PSA ≥ 20 ng.mL^-1 at diagnosis and Gleason score ≥8 (Model 2). Finally, this predictive ability increased with the addition of genetic information regarding the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism, with an improvement of the prediction by 6.3% and 1.0% compared with Model 1 and Model 2, respectively (c-index 0.746) (Model 3, Table 3). Furthermore, the predictive value increased to 0.759 considering the covariants tumor Stage (localized vs locally advanced vs distant metastases, EAU), PSA ≥ 20 ng.mL^-1 at diagnosis, Gleason ≥8, TGFBR2-875GG genotype (Model 4, table 3).

Regarding the TGFBR2 mRNA expression according the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism, we observed differences in mRNA expression in GG homozygous carriers compared with AA/AG genotypes carriers. The AA/AG genotype carriers present a 1.5-fold increase in expression levels of TGFBR2 mRNA than GG homozygous (2^-ΔΔCT = 1.5, P=0.016) (Figure 2a). Concerning SMAD7 mRNA expression, we observed no differences in mRNA expression levels between the TGFBR2-875GG homozygous and TGFBR2-875AA/AG genotype carriers (P=0.906) (Figure 2b).

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Figure 2. Normalized expression among individuals with TGFBR2-875GG vs TGFBR2-875AA/AG genotypes regarding a) TGFBR2 mRNA and b) SMAD7 mRNA.

Statistical differences in the TGFBR2 and SMAD7 mRNA levels were evaluated by the Student’s t-Test.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072419.g002

Discussion

Worldwide, PC is the most prevalent malignancy in men. Prostate cancer is a complex, multifactorial and heterogeneous disease. A better understanding of the mechanisms involved in this disease may contribute to early diagnosis and to the establishment of new therapeutic targets to increase survival and improve the quality of patients’ life. The PC progression to CR has been associated with the cell insensitivity to anti-proliferative signals and consequent disruption of the balance between cell growth rate and apoptosis. The CRPC is an invariably lethal condition, with chemotherapy being the sole treatment option with only palliative benefits [16,17]. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms involved in CR progression.

In the present study, we describe that the functional TGFBR2 polymorphism influences the development of CRPC. Our results suggest that small changes in TGFBR2 expression levels, due to functional SNPs, may contribute to a disequilibrium in the TGFβ1 signaling pathway activation and thus to a higher risk for an earlier development of resistance to ADT.

TGFβ1 signaling pathway mediates growth, mainly by inhibiting cell cycle progression through G1-arrest, suppressing c-myc, and stimulating cyclin-dependent kinases inhibitors including p21^WAF1 and p15^Ink4b, but also by inducing apoptosis, through the induction of DAP kinase and others [18]. Several studies demonstrated that TGFβ1 signaling components, including TGFβRII, are often lost in human cancer [5]. In PC, the TGFβ1 is frequently up-regulated and the loss of TGFβRI and RII has been detected. Is has been hypothesized, that TGFBR2 repression is responsible for most of the tumor associated TGFβ1 resistance observed in vivo [19]. Studies performed by Rojas and co-workers showed that TGFBR2 expression levels can regulate the intensity of activation of the Smad and non-Smad signaling pathways [10]. The inactivation of TGFBR2 gene in mouse fibroblasts has been associated with prostate intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive squamous cell carcinoma of forestomach development, and this alteration can also promote growth and invasion of co-transplanted breast cancer cells [20,21]. Moreover, patients with defective TGFβRII present significantly more colon polyps and preneoplastic lesions than patients with normal TGFβRII [22]. Lu and co-workers, report that the expression of TGFβRII significantly decreased when they observed normal tissue, tissue adjacent to cancer and gastric cancer [23].

Early reports indicate that most PC become resistant to the anti-proliferative effects of TGFβ1 without defined mutations or deletions in members of the Smad signaling pathway [24]. More recently, Rojas and co-workers showed that TGFBR2 expression levels can affect the ability of TGFβ1 to induce p21 and apoptosis in the V-400 colorectal cancer cell line [10]. Furthermore, cancers that do not demonstrate mutations in any TGFβ1 signaling cascade members, show down-regulated levels of TGFBR2, demonstrating the oncogenic potential of TGFβ1 pathway [25].

In the PC3 cell line, which is CR, the AR expression reduces TGFβ1/SMAD transcriptional activity and the growth effects of TGFβ1 (in the absence of DHT), thus preventing growth inhibition and apoptosis. According to Bruckheimer and co-workers, the treatment of LnCaP cells, that overexpress TGFβRII, with TGFβ1 in the presence of DHT, can enhance the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, through caspase-1 activation and the targeting of BCL-2 [26].

It is evident that TGFβ1 signaling requires a delicate balance of interactions within the cellular and tumoral microenvironment. Deregulation of TGFBR2 expression levels and of the inhibitory SMAD7 could influence the normal cellular homeostasis and also influence cancer progression. We previously demonstrated that changes in the tumoral microenvironment can modulate PC progression with impact in response to ADT [13,27].

Seijo and co-workers observed, in normal epithelial cells, that the A-to-G transition at the -875 position enhances the activity of TGFβRII, with higher luciferase activity in the presence of the A allele [12]. Our results also suggest that the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism could influence the circulating expression levels of TGFBR2 in PC patients. We observed that TGFBR2-875>AG/AA patients carriers present a higher expression levels of TGFBR2 mRNA than GG homozygous (2^-ΔΔCT = 1.5, P=0.016) and that up-regulation may be responsible for the TGFβ1 signaling pathway up-regulation, inducing the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and consequently causing these patients to present a higher progression free-interval after the beginning of ADT (AA/AG: 102.4 vs GG: 86.7 months).

In fact we also observed that TGFBR2-875GG homozygous, which present lower circulating levels of TGFBR2 mRNA, present a higher risk for the development of tumors with higher Gleason score (≥8) (P=0.019). In GG homozygous carriers, the lower expression levels of TGFBR2 may be associated with cellular disruptions in the TGFβ1 signaling pathway and induces the acquisition of aggressive cancer phenotypes.

TGFBR2-875>G/A has been the subject of investigation in several case–control studies involving different types of cancers, with controversial results [28–32].

Several authors, have associated the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism with a decreased risk for gastric cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, breast cancer, and lymph node metastasis, especially in the Asian population [28–33].

However, similarly to other studies in European populations, no association were observed between the TGFBR2-875/A polymorphism and PC risk. In addition, it appears that this polymorphism may have no influence on the onset of PC but instead it can modulate its progression to an aggressive phenotype [34].

In our control population the frequency of the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism tended to be similar to those observed in other Caucasian healthy populations like in Finland and Poland. However, the frequencies are also similar to those observed in studies performed in Republic of Korea and North of China [30,33,34]. Additionally, we observed that the frequency of the TGFBR2-875GG genotype was lower than the one of the control group used in the study performed by Seijo and co-workers in an American population and higher than the reported results in the control group that included Cantonese healthy subjects from population in southern China [12,32].

Survival of the PC patients and CR development are related to several variables that include the extent of the initial tumor, PSA levels, patients’ age, which are useful tools for therapeutic decisions [14]. However, due to some predictive limitations, they do not exactly reflect the biologic behavior of PC, and many men can die from aggressive disease. Additional results showed that the definition of profiles that contains information regarding tumor characteristics associated with genetic information have a higher capacity to predict the risk for CR development (c-index from 0.683 to 0.746). Therefore, we hypothesize that the definition of a predictive profile that contains the TGFBR2-875G>A polymorphism information could be useful as molecular marker for predicting the clinical response to ADT in patients with PC. However, future studies should replicate this predictive model in another PC study population submitted to ADT.

In conclusion, the present study suggests that the functional polymorphism TGFBR2-875G>A does not modify the predisposition to PC in our population. However, this SNP has the capacity to change the TGFBR2 mRNA expression levels in PC patients submitted to ADT and influence the CRFI, with a lower time interval to CR in TGFBR2-875GG homozygous compared with TGFBR2-875AG/AA patients carriers. In the future, the identification of these genetic profiles may help to define new effective prognostic models for the follow up of patients submitted to ADT and identifying higher risk groups for an individualized chemoprevention strategy and target therapies.