The role of the transcription factors GATA2 and FOXA1 in immortalized basal-like prostate epithelial cells

GATA2 and FOXA1 are pioneering factors for Androgen Receptor (AR) in prostate cancer cells. Less is known about their role in benign epithelial prostate cells. We investigated if they had the ability to induce differentiation in an undifferentiated prostatic context. Benign basal-like prostate epithelial cells 957E/hTERT-AR cells (a gift from John T. Isaacs lab, Johns Hopkins, MD, USA) were transduced with LentiORF RFP control lentiviral particles. The 957E/hTERT-AR-RFP cells were then transduced with GATA2 and FOXA1 lentiviral particles, and we called the new cell lines hTERT/AR-GATA2 and hTERT/AR-FOXA1, respectively. hTERT/AR-GATA2 is a stable selected cell line and treated with 1 nM anabolic steroids, R1881, or ethanol (ET-OH) for 48 hrs. 957E/hTERT/AR-FOXA1 is a transient cell line, because FOXA1 protein is quickly lost. Twenty four hours post transduction with FOXA1 lentivral particles, 1 nM androgen R1881 or ethanol (ET-OH) were added at time for medium exchange and further treated for 24 hours. GATA-2 and FOXA1 ability to induce differentiation was assessed.