FLICE-like inhibitory protein blocks transforming growth factor β1-induced caspase activation and apoptosis in prostate epithelial cells

Androgen withdrawal induces the regression of human prostate cancers, but such cancers eventually become androgen-independent and metastasize. Thus, deciphering the mechanism of androgen withdrawal-induced apoptosis is critical to designing new therapies for prostate cancer. Previously, we showed that in the rat, castration-induced apoptosis is accompanied by a reduction in the expression of the apical caspase inhibitor FLICE-like inhibitory protein (FLIP). To test the functional role of FLIP in inhibiting prostate epithelial cell apoptosis, we employed the rat prostate epithelial cell line NRP-152, which differentiates to a secretory phenotype in a low-mitogen medium and then undergoes apoptosis following the addition of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF beta 1), mimicking androgen withdrawal-induced apoptosis. FLIP levels decline with TGF beta 1 treatment, suggesting that apoptosis is mediated by caspase-8 and indeed the caspase inhibitor crmA blocks TGF beta 1-induced apoptosis. Small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of FLIP recapitulates and enhances TGF beta 1-induced cell death. NRP-152 cells stably transfected with constitutively expressed FLIP were refractory to TGF beta 1-induced apoptosis. TGF beta 1-lnduced caspase-3 activity is proportional to the level of cell death and inversely proportional to the level of FLIP expression in various clones. Moreover, neither caspase-3 nor PARP is cleaved in clones expressing high levels of FLIP. Furthermore, insulin, which inhibits differentiation, increases FLIP and inhibits TGF beta-induced death in a FLIP-dependent manner. Although neither Fas-Fc, sTNFRII-Fc, nor DR5-Fc blocked TGF beta 1-induced cell death, there is a significant increase in tumor necrosis factor mRNA following TGF beta stimulation, suggesting both an unexpected role for tumor necrosis factor in this model system and the possibility that FLIP blocks another unknown caspase-dependent mediator of apoptosis.