Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Prostate Organoid Cultures as Tools to Translate Genotypes and Mutational Profiles to Pharmacological Responses
Published on: October 24, 2019
ERG cooperates with androgen receptor in regulating trefoil factor 3 in prostate cancer disease progression
David S Rickman1, Ying-Bei Chen, Samprit Banerjee
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Abstract:
To elucidate the role of ETS gene fusions in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), we characterized the transcriptome of 54 CRPC tumor samples from men with locally advanced or metastatic disease. Trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) emerged as the most highly differentially regulated gene with respect to ERG rearrangement status and resistance to hormone ablation therapy. Conventional chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-polymerase chain reaction and ChIP followed by DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) revealed direct binding of ERG to ETS binding sites in the TFF3 promoter in ERG-rearranged prostate cancer cell lines. These results were confirmed in ERG-rearranged hormone-naive prostate cancer (HNPC) and CRPC tissue samples. Functional studies demonstrated that ERG has an inhibitory effect on TFF3 expression in hormone-naive cancer but not in the castration-resistant state. In addition, we provide evidence suggesting an effect of androgen receptor signaling on ERG-regulated TFF3 expression. Furthermore, TFF3 overexpression enhances ERG-mediated cell invasion in CRPC prostate cancer cells. Taken together, our findings reveal a novel mechanism for enhanced tumor cell aggressiveness resulting from ERG rearrangement in the castration-resistant setting through TFF3 gene expression.
Related Concept Videos
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Co-activators and Co-repressors
Co-activators and Co-repressors

