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Background Metastatic hormone-naïve prostate cancer (mHNPC) is an infrequent form of this tumor type that is characterized by metastasis at the time of diagnosis and accounts for up to 50% of prostate cancer-related deaths. Despite the extensive characterization of localized and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the molecular characteristics of mHNPC remain largely unexplored. Results Here, we provide the first extensive transcriptomics characterization of primary tumor specimens from patients with mHNPC. We generate discovery and validation bulk and single-cell RNA-seq datasets and perform integrative computational analysis in combination with experimental studies. Our results provide unprecedented evidence of the distinctive transcriptional profile of mHNPC and identify stroma remodeling as a predominant feature of these tumors. Importantly, we discover a central role for the SRY-box transcription factor 11 (SOX11) in triggering a heterotypic communication that is associated with the acquisition of metastatic properties. Conclusions Our study will constitute an invaluable resource for a profound understanding of mHNPC that can influence patient management.

Prostate cancer is a prevalent tumor type that, despite being highly curable, progresses to metastatic disease in a fraction of patients, thus accounting for more than 350 000 annual deaths worldwide. In turn, uncovering the molecular insights of metastatic disease is instrumental in improving the survival rate of prostate cancer patients. By means of gene expression meta‐analysis in multiple prostate cancer patient cohorts, we identified a set of genes that are differentially expressed in aggressive prostate cancer. Transcription factor 19 (TCF19) stood out as an unprecedented epithelial gene upregulated in metastatic disease, with prognostic potential and negatively associated with the activity of the androgen receptor. By combining computational and empirical approaches, our data revealed that TCF19 is required for full metastatic capacity, and its depletion influences core cancer‐related processes, such as tumor growth and vascular permeability, supporting the role of this gene in the dissemination of prostate tumor cells. Gene expression meta‐analysis in multiple prostate cancer patient cohorts identifies Transcription factor 19 (TCF19) as an aggressiveness‐sustaining gene with prognostic potential. TCF19 is a gene repressed by androgen signaling that sustains core cancer‐related processes such as vascular permeability or tumor growth and metastasis.

Prostate cancer exhibits high prevalence and accounts for a high number of cancer-related deaths. The discovery and characterization of molecular determinants of aggressive prostate cancer represents an active area of research. The Immediate Early Response (IER) family of genes, which regulate Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity, has emerged among the factors that influence cancer biology. Here, we show that the less studied member of this family, Immediate Early Response 5 like (IER5L), is upregulated in aggressive prostate cancer. Interestingly, the upregulation of IER5L expression exhibits a robust association with metastatic disease in prostate and is recapitulated in other cancer types. In line with this observation, IER5L silencing reduces foci formation, migration and invasion ability in a variety of human and murine prostate cancer cell lines. In vivo, using zebrafish and immunocompromised mouse models, we demonstrate that IER5L -silencing reduces prostate cancer tumor growth, dissemination, and metastasis. Mechanistically, we characterize the transcriptomic and proteomic landscapes of IER5L -silenced cells. This approach allowed us to identify DNA replication and monomeric G protein regulators as downstream programs of IER5L through a pathway that is consistent with the regulation of PP2A. In sum, we report the alteration of IER5L in prostate cancer and beyond and provide biological and molecular evidence of its contribution to tumor aggressiveness.

Glycine N-Methyltransferase (GNMT) is a metabolic enzyme that integrates metabolism and epigenetic regulation. The product of GNMT, sarcosine, has been proposed as a prostate cancer biomarker. This enzyme is predominantly expressed in the liver, brain, pancreas, and prostate tissue, where it exhibits distinct regulation. Whereas genetic alterations in GNMT have been associated to prostate cancer risk, its causal contribution to the development of this disease is limited to cell line-based studies and correlative human analyses. Here we integrate human studies, genetic mouse modeling, and cellular systems to characterize the regulation and function of GNMT in prostate cancer. We report that this enzyme is repressed upon activation of the oncogenic Phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, which adds complexity to its reported dependency on androgen signaling. Importantly, we demonstrate that expression of GNMT is required for the onset of invasive prostate cancer in a genetic mouse model. Altogether, our results provide further support of the heavy oncogenic signal-dependent regulation of GNMT in prostate cancer.

The acquisition of metastatic features in tumor cells encompasses genetic and non-genetic adaptation, including reprogramming of cellular metabolism. Here we show that loss of UFMylation reroutes glucose metabolism, promotes invasive capacity and supports prostate cancer metastasis. Through transcriptome-based bioinformatics analysis, we identified a reduction in the ubiquitin-like modifier UFM1 and its ligase UFL1 in metastatic prostate cancer. We demonstrate that loss of UFMylation results in enhanced cancer cell dissemination and a switch from cellular proliferation to invasion. Using biotin-based proteomics, we identified phosphofructokinase (PFKAP) as an unprecedented UFMylation substrate. Consistent with UFMylation playing a role in the regulation of phosphofructokinase activity, loss of UFMylation reduced glucose metabolism in favour of hexosamine biosynthesis, which resulted in elevated glycosylation of proteins relevant for cell invasion. These results reveal a role for UFMylation in the regulation of phosphofructokinase and glucose metabolism to support prostate cancer metastasis.

Prostate cancer is a prevalent tumor type that, despite being highly curable, progresses to metastatic disease in a fraction of patients, thus accounting for more than 350.000 annual deaths worldwide. In turn, uncovering the molecular insights of metastatic disease is instrumental to improve the survival rate of prostate cancer patients. By means of gene expression metanalysis in multiple prostate cancer patient cohorts, we identified a set of genes that are differentially expressed in aggressive prostate cancer. Transcription factor 19 (TCF19) stood out as an unprecedented epithelial gene upregulated in metastatic disease, with prognostic potential and associated with the activity of androgen receptor. By combining computational and empiric approaches, our data revealed that TCF19 is required for full metastatic capacity and its depletion influences core cancer-related processes, such as vascular permeability, supporting the role of this gene in the dissemination of prostate tumor cells.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

Metastatic hormone-naïve prostate cancer (mHNPC) is an infrequent form of this tumour type that is characterized by metastasis at the time of diagnosis and accounts for 50% of prostate cancer-related deaths. Despite the extensive characterization of localized and metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), the molecular characteristics of mHNPC remain largely unexplored. Here we provide the first extensive transcriptomics characterization of mHNPC. We generated discovery and validation bulk and single-cell RNA-Seq datasets and performed integrative computational analysis in combination with experimental studies. Our results provide unprecedented evidence of the distinctive transcriptional profile of mHNPC and identify stroma remodelling as a predominant feature of these tumours. Importantly, we discover a central role for the transcription factor SOX11 in triggering a heterotypic communication that is associated to the acquisition of metastatic properties. Our study will constitute an invaluable resource for a profound understanding of mHNPC that can influence patient management.

Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) is the master transcriptional regulator that orchestrates cellular adaptation to low oxygen. HIF is tightly regulated via the stability of its α-subunit, which is subjected to oxygen-dependent proline hydroxylation by Prolyl-Hydroxylase Domain containing proteins (PHDs/EGLNs), and ultimately targeted for proteasomal degradation through poly-ubiquitination by von-Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL). However, sustained HIF-α signalling is found in many tumours independently of oxygen availability pointing towards the relevance of non-canonical HIF-α regulators. In this study, we establish the Ubiquitin Specific Protease 29 (USP29) as direct post-translational activator of HIF-α in a variety of cancer cell lines. USP29 binds to HIF-α, decreases poly-ubiquitination and thus protects HIF-α from proteasomal degradation. Deubiquitinating activity of USP29 is essential to stabilise not only HIF-1α but also HIF-2α, via their C-termini in an oxygen/PHD/pVHL-independent manner. Furthermore, in prostate cancer samples the expression of USP29 correlates with the HIF-target gene CA9 (carbonic anhydrase 9) as well as disease progression and severity.