Chemotherapy-Induced CXC-Chemokine/CXC-Chemokine Receptor Signaling in Metastatic Prostate Cancer Cells Confers Resistance to Oxaliplatin through Potentiation of Nuclear Factor-κB Transcription and Evasion of Apoptosis

Constitutive activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB is linked with the intrinsic resistance of androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC) to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Interleukin-8 (CXCL8) is a transcriptional target of NF-κB whose expression is elevated in AIPC. This study sought to determine the significance of CXCL8 signaling in regulating the response of AIPC cells to oxaliplatin, a drug whose activity is reportedly sensitive to NF-κB activity. Administration of oxaliplatin to PC3 and DU145 cells increased NF-κB activity, promoting antiapoptotic gene transcription. In addition, oxaliplatin increased the transcription and secretion of CXCL8 and the related CXC-chemokine CXCL1 and increased the transcription and expression of CXC-chemokine receptors, especially CXC-chemokine receptor (CXCR) 2, which transduces the biological effects of CXCL8 and CXCL1. Stimulation of AIPC cells with CXCL8 potentiated NF-κB activation in AIPC cells, increasing the transcription and expression of NF-κB-regulated antiapoptotic genes of the Bcl-2 and IAP families. Coadministration of a CXCR2-selective antagonist, AZ10397767 (Bioorg Med Chem Lett 18:798–803, 2008), attenuated oxaliplatin-induced NF-κB activation, increased oxaliplatin cytotoxicity, and potentiated oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis in AIPC cells. Pharmacological inhibition of NF-κBorRNA interference-mediated suppression of Bcl-2 and survivin was also shown to sensitize AIPC cells to oxaliplatin. Our results further support NF-κB activity as an important determinant of cancer cell sensitivity to oxaliplatin and identify the induction of autocrine CXCR2 signaling as a novel mode of resistance to this drug.