In vitro efficacy of MAGMAS inhibition in prostate cancer

281 Background: Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide in males. The initial treatment in advanced cases is medical or surgical castration. The outlook declines when prostate cancer advances independently, despite the aforementioned castration. Within the last ten years, a handful of new agents have proven effective in this castration-resistant phase, but finding more effective, novel ways of treating advanced prostate cancer is warranted. MAGMAS (mitochondria-associated, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) signaling molecule) is a protein ubiquitously expressed in eukaryotic cells that plays a key role in embryonal development in a variety of species. Overexpression of MAGMAS has anti-apoptotic effects, as GM-CSF is a growth factor essential for survival, proliferation and differentiation of cells. MAGMAS and GM-CSF receptor levels have been shown to be overexpressed in prostate cancer, but do not correlate with pathological grade or clinical stage. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of a MAGMAS inhibitor, synthesized by Dr Bhaskar Das, in androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines, as well as in a normal prostate cell line as another control. Methods: The different cell lines were treated with MAGMAS inhibitor at various concentrations in vitro. For analysis, we used MTT Cell Proliferation assay at 24 and 48 hours, per manufacturer’s protocol. We tested MAGMAS inhibitor effect on apoptosis/necrosis, cell migration and microtubule destabilization as well. Results: After prostate cancer cell lines were treated with MAGMAS inhibitor in vitro, cell proliferation and migration decreased, apoptosis and necrosis were induced, and microtubules were destabilized, all showing more impressive results in the androgen-independent cells. MAGMAS inhibition did not affect cell proliferation in the normal prostate cells. Conclusions: In vitro studies show MAGMAS inhibition proves efficacious in both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines. This will be evaluated further in a xenograft mouse model.