Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein Regulates Cell Survival Pathways via Integrin α6β4-Mediated Activation of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Akt Signaling

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is expressed by human prostatic tissues and cancer cell lines. PTHrP enhances tumor cell growth and metastasis in vivo and up-regulates proinvasive integrin α6β4 expression in vitro. Hallmarks of malignant tumor cells include resistance to apoptosis and anchorage-independent cell growth. In this study, we used the human prostate cancer cell lines C4-2 and PC-3 as model systems to study the effects of PTHrP on these processes. We report that PTHrP protects these cells from doxorubicin-induced apoptosis and promotes anchorage-independent cell growth via an intracrine pathway. Conversely, autocrine/paracrine PTHrP action increases apoptosis in C4-2 cells and has no effect on apoptosis in PC-3 cells. The intracrine effects of PTHrP on apoptosis are mediated via activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. PTHrP also affects the phosphorylation state of Akt substrates implicated in apoptosis suppression, including glycogen synthase kinase-3 and Bad. The prosurvival effects of PTHrP are accompanied by increases in the ratio of antiapoptotic to proapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family and in levels of c-myc. PTHrP also increases nuclear factor-κB activity via a PI3K-dependent pathway. Integrin α6β4 is known to activate PI3K. Here, we also show that knockdown of integrin α6β4 negates the PTHrP-mediated activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. Taken together, these observations provide evidence of a link between PTHrP and the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway through integrin α6β4, resulting in the activation of survival pathways. Targeting PTHrP production in prostate cancer may thus prove therapeutically beneficial. (Mol Cancer Res 2009;7(7):1119–31