Expression of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptors in human prostate cancer

We studied the expression and function of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) receptor in the human prom carcinoma call line LNCaP and looked for its presence in normal and neoplastic human prostatic tissue. The GM-CSF receptor is composed of two subunits, α and β. While the isolated a subunit binds GM-CSF at low-affinity, the isolated β subunit does not bind GM-CSF by itself; but complexes with the α subunit to form a high-affinity receptor. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reason (RT-PCR) showed expression of mRNAs encoding the a and β subunits of the GM-CSF receptor in LNCaP cells, and the presence of the α and β proteins was confirmed by immunolocalization with anti-α and anti-β antibodies. Receptor binding studies using radiolabeled GM-CSF showed that LNCaP cells have about 150 high-affinity sites with a kd of 40 pmol/L and approximately 750 low-affinity sites with a kd of 2 nmol/L GM-CSF signaled, in time- and dose-dependent manner, for protein tyrosine phosphorylation and induced the proliferation of the LNCaP cells. Immunolocalization studies showed low level expression of GM-CSF a and β subunits in normal prostate tissue, with substantial expression in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prominent expression in neoplastic prostate tissue. Maximal expression of both subunits was observed in prostatic carcinomas metastatic to lymph node and bone. Tumor cells that stained positively with anti-α subunit a antibodies were also reactive with anti-β subunit antibodies, indicating that they express high-affinity GM-CSF receptors. Our data show that the LNCaP cells express functional GM-CSF receptors and that prostatic carcinomas have prominent GM-CSF receptor expression. These findings imply that both hyper- plastic and neoplastic prostatic tissues may be responsive to GM-CSF.