Diverse effects of ANXA7 and p53 on LNCaP prostate cancer cells are associated with regulation of SGK1 transcription and phosphorylation of the SGK1 target FOXO3A.

Tumor suppressor function of the calcium/phospholipid-binding Annexin-A7 (ANXA7) has been shown in Anxa7-deficient mice and validated in human cancers. In the androgen-resistant prostate cancer cells, ANXA7 and p53 showed similar cytotoxicity levels. However, in the androgen-sensitive LNCaP, ANXA7 greatly exceeded the p53-induced cytotoxicity. We hypothesized that the p53 underperformance in LNCaP could be due to the involvement of p53-responsive SGK1 and FOXO3A. In this study, we show that p53 failed to match programmed cell death (PCD) and G1-arrest that were induced by ANXA7 in LNCaP. WT-ANXA7 preserved total FOXO3A expression with no hyperphosphorylation that could enable FOXO3A nuclear translocation and proapoptotic transcription. In contrast, in the p53-transfected LNCaP cells with maintained cell proliferation, the phosphorylated (but not total) FOXO3A fraction was increased implying a predominantly cytoplasmic localization and, subsequently, a lack of FOXO3A proapoptotic transcription. In addition, p53 reduced the expression of aberrant SGK1 protein form in LNCaP. Using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and p53-signature genes, we elucidated the role of distinct SGK1/FOXO3A-associated regulation in p53 versus ANXA7 responses and proposed that aberrant SGK1 could affect reciprocal SGK1-FOXO3A-Akt regulation. Thus, the failure of the cell growth regulator p53 versus the phospholipid-binding ANXA7 could be potentially attributed to its diverse effects on SGK1-FOXO3A-Akt pathway in the PTEN-deficient LNCaP.