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Identification of Candidate Biomarkers of Therapeutic Response to Docetaxel by Proteomic Profiling

¹ Cancer Research Program and ² Peter Wills Bioinformatics Centre, Garvan Institute of Medical Research; ³ Centre for Immunology, St. Vincent's Hospital; ⁴ Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science, Australian Proteome Analysis Facility, Macquarie University; ⁵ Royal North Shore Hospital; ⁶ Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Requests for reprints: Lisa Horvath, Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Missenden Road, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia. Phone: 612-9515-7680; Fax: 612-9519-1546; E-mail: lisa.horvath{at}sswahs.nsw.gov.au.

Key Words: prostate cancer • AGR2 • MIC-1

Docetaxel chemotherapy improves symptoms and survival in men with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). However, 50% of patients do not respond to Docetaxel and are exposed to significant toxicity without direct benefit. This study aimed to identify novel therapeutic targets and predictive biomarkers of Docetaxel resistance in HRPC. We used iTRAQ-mass spectrometry analysis to identify proteins associated with the development of Docetaxel resistance using Docetaxel-sensitive PC3 cells and Docetaxel-resistant PC3-Rx cells developed by Docetaxel dose escalation. Functional validation experiments were performed using recombinant protein treatment and siRNA knockdown experiments. Serum/plasma levels of the targets in patient samples were measured by ELISA. The IC₅₀ for Docetaxel in the PC3-Rx cells was 13-fold greater than the parent PC-3 cell line (P = 0.004). Protein profiling identified MIC-1 and AGR2 as respectively up-regulated and down-regulated in Docetaxel-resistant cells. PC-3 cells treated with recombinant MIC-1 also became resistant to Docetaxel (P = 0.03). Conversely, treating PC3-Rx cells with MIC-1 siRNA restored sensitivity to Docetaxel (P = 0.02). Knockdown of AGR2 expression in PC3 cells resulted in Docetaxel resistance (P = 0.007). Furthermore, increased serum/plasma levels of MIC-1 after cycle one of chemotherapy were associated with progression of the cancer (P = 0.006) and shorter survival after treatment (P = 0.002). These results suggest that both AGR2 and MIC-1 play a role in Docetaxel resistance in HRPC. In addition, an increase in serum/plasma MIC-1 level after cycle one of Docetaxel may be an indication to abandon further treatment. Further investigation of MIC-1 as a biomarker and therapeutic target for Docetaxel resistance in HRPC is warranted. [Cancer Res 2009;69(19):7696–7703]