Interactional expression of netrin-1 and its dependence receptor UNC5B in prostate carcinoma

Acting via its receptor UNC5B, netrin-1, one of the major neuronal guidance cues, plays an important role in angiogenesis, neurogenesis, tissue morphogenesis, embryonic development, cancer, inflammation, and various pathologies. However, its role has not been reported in prostate carcinoma. To investigate the association of netrin-1 and UNC5B expression with prostate carcinoma, several human prostate carcinoma cell lines were cultured and the expression levels of netrin-1 and UNC5B were determined by real-time PCR and Western blot. Calphostin C, (the inhibitor of PKC alpha) and phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate-PMA (the agonist of PKC alpha) were used to treat the prostate carcinoma cells, and the cell proliferation and invasion abilities were measured by CCK-8 and wound-healing assays. Proliferation of DU145 cells was affected by the recruitment of PMA and calphostin C in a dose-dependent manner. By immunofluorescence, we identified the localization of netrin-1 and UNC5B in prostate carcinoma cell lines (DU145, 22RV1, PC3, PC3M, and RWEP) and found that netrin-1 was highly expressed in the nucleolus but there was no expression of UNC5B. The co-localization expression of PKC alpha and UNC5B was confirmed by the confocal immunofluorescence. Higher netrin-1 and lower UNC5B expression in all prostate carcinoma cell lines indicated that netrin-1 and UNC5B could be used to predict metastasis.