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Updated: Feb 7, 2026

A Bioluminescent and Fluorescent Orthotopic Syngeneic Murine Model of Androgen-dependent and Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
Published on: March 6, 2018
Androgenic modulation of AR-Vs
Ana Caroline Hillebrand1, Lolita Schneider Pizzolato1, Gisele Branchini2
1Laboratory of Molecular Endocrine and Tumoral Biology, Department of Physiology, Institute of Basic Sciences of Health, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, 90050-170, Brazil.
Purpose:
The importance of androgen receptor variants (AR-Vs) is recognized in prostate cancer. AR-Vs have been the focus of many studies. Expression of AR-Vs has been proposed as a biomarker for resistance to androgen deprivation therapy for metastatic disease. Herein, we show dynamic changes in AR-Vs expression in response to androgen modulation.
Methods:
The C4-2B cell line was exposed to low (10-13 M) and high (10-8 M) androgen (dihydrotestosterone, DHT) levels, with or without flutamide. mRNA and protein expression levels were assessed by qPCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively.
Results:
We demonstrated that high levels of DHT downregulate AR-FL and AR-Vs. Even though AR-Vs did not present ligand-binding domain, thus were not capable of binding to DHT, they present dynamic changes under androgen treatment. Treatment with flutamide alone or in association with low levels of DHT stimulates growth of prostatic cells.
Conclusions:
Importantly, we provide evidence that AR-Vs respond differently to androgenic modulation. These findings have implications for a better understanding of the role of AR-Vs in prostate carcinogenesis.
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