The zinc metallopeptidase, neprilysin (NEP), is an endothelin-1 degrading enzyme whose expression is extensively downregulated in prostate cancer. The expression of NEP in neuronal cells is regulated by intramembrane proteolysis of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) through its intracellular domain (AICD) facilitating histone acetylation of the NEP promoter and gene transcription. The present study has examined whether similar mechanisms operate in prostate cell lines. The expression of APP and its processing enzymes (b-and c-secretases) was examined in a number of prostate cell lines, and the effect of c-secretase inhibition was explored on NEP expression and activity. The potential interaction of AICD with the NEP promoter was examined by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Our results indicated that all key components involved in APP processing were expressed in prostate cancer cell lines but suppression of AICD production using a c-secretase inhibitor did not decrease NEP expression and activity, and no direct AICD-NEP promoter interaction could be detected. However, histone deacetylase inhibitors (valproate and trichostatin A) caused a 2-to 3-fold increase in NEP expression in PC-3 cells, and combinatorial treatment with the DNA demethylating agent, AzaC, further increased NEP expression levels. Although AICD is detectable in prostate cell lines, it does not appear to regulate NEP by AICD-mediated signalling. Apart from promoter demethylation, the data suggest that histone acetylation may facilitate partial re-activation of NEP expression in advanced prostate cancer cells. Upregulation of this tumour-suppressing protein may provide a novel therapeutic strategy in prostate cancer.Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in western males. Advanced PC in the androgen-independent, chemo-refractory state is extremely life-threatening and currently incurable. In the progression of PC to the more malignant, androgen-independent phenotype, loss of a membrane-bound zinc metallopeptidase, neprilysin (NEP), is commonly found.1,2 NEP is an integral membrane glycoprotein and ectoenzyme which serves to inactivate circulating regulatory peptides.3 NEP has a wide tissue expression including intestinal and kidney epithelium, brain, skeletal muscle, lung and prostate. [4][5][6][7][8] NEP is able to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, migration and promote cell apoptosis during chemotherapy either via degradation of mitogenic neuropeptides such as endothelin-1 (ET-1), or by its direct protein-protein interactions with tumour suppressor PTEN, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) proteins. 9 In prostate cancer cell lines, there is a reciprocal relation between expression levels of the ET-1 synthetic enzyme, endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1) and the ET-1 degrading enzyme, NEP.2 Hence, downregulation of ECE-1 10 or upregulation of NEP 11 are proposed as viable therapeutic strategies in advanced prostate cancer.In the prostate, NEP expression is positively regulated by androgens, ...