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British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1992 Mar;65(3):376–382. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1992.76

Transcriptional down-regulation of c-myc in human prostate carcinoma cells by the synthetic androgen mibolerone.

D A Wolf 1, F Kohlhuber 1, P Schulz 1, F Fittler 1, D Eick 1
PMCID: PMC1977595  PMID: 1373070

Abstract

The mechanism of down-regulation of c-myc RNA associated with androgen-induced suppression of the transformed phenotype in the human prostate carcinoma cell line LNCaP was investigated. The synthetic androgen mibolerone (7 alpha-17 alpha-Dimethyl-19-nortestosterone) reversibly inhibits the proliferation of LNCaP cells and, from 12-72 h after hormone addition reduces the level of c-myc transcripts to a few per cent of controls. P1, P2, and P0 c-myc transcripts decline at the same rate, whereas P3 transcripts are much less hormone sensitive. Nuclear run-on analysis revealed that c-myc is down-regulated at the level of transcription initiation in LNCaP cells. The level of c-myc transcripts prevailing in untreated control cells can be restored in androgen-induced cells by excess antiandrogen, indicating the involvement of the androgen receptor in c-myc down-regulation.

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