SARS-CoV-2 spike protein inhibits growth of prostate cancer: a potential role of the COVID-19 vaccine killing two birds with one stone

Johnson, Bradley D.; Zhu, Ziwen; Lequio, Marco; Powers, Coby G. D.; Bai, Qian; Xiao, Hualiang; Fajardo, Emerson; Wakefield, Mark R.; Fang, Yujiang

doi:10.1007/s12032-021-01628-1

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…1B). This is consistent with our previous publication [27]. These results demonstrate that the SP of SARS-CoV-2 negatively affects the proliferation and survival of LNCaP cells.…”

Section: The Time-dependent Effect Of Sars-cov-2 Sp On Lncap and Pc-3...supporting

confidence: 94%

“…One pro-proliferative gene upregulated through this pathway is CDK4 [35]. This is of particular interest to our lab given that in our recent study CDK4 expression was downregulated in LNCaP cells in the presence of SP, which correlated with suppressed cell proliferation [27]. In this study, we did not test whether the observed inhibitory effects of SP on the growth of LNCaP cells is related to expression levels of the androgen receptor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…A recent study from our laboratory revealed that SARS-CoV-2 SP not only inhibits LNCaP cell proliferation, but also promotes apoptosis by upregulating the proapoptotic molecule, FasL-more fully characterizing the decrease in survival of LNCaP cells when exposed to SP [27]. The current study expanded our understanding by revealing that 1 day of SP exposure is insufficient time to have an effect on LNCaP and PC-3 cell growth-at least 3 days are necessary to begin to see the growth-inhibiting effect of SP.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amid the pandemic of COVID-19, and given the prevalence and seriousness of prostate cancer, it is of significant interest to understand if and how prostate cancer is affected in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 SP. A study from our lab recently reported that growth of LNCaP cells is inhibited by SP concentrations of 20 ng/mL, 50 ng/mL, and 200 ng/mL when treated for 72 hours [27]. It was found that 50 ng/mL most significantly inhibited LNCaP cell growth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Influences Expression of ICOSL and ICAM-2 in Prostate Cancer

Echols¹,

Deng²,

Powers³

et al. 2022

JOMH

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Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The viral protein of SARS-CoV-2, spike protein (SP), mediates entry into host cells, contributing to pathogenesis of COVID-19. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States. Inducible T-cell costimulator ligand (ICOSL) and intercellular cell adhesion molecule 2 (ICAM-2) are expressed in cancer cells and their roles in cancer growth remain controversial. It is unknown if SP can affect the expression of ICAM-2 or ICOSL in prostate cancer. This study investigated the effects of SARS-CoV-2 SP on the expression of ICAM-2 and ICOSL and the time-dependent effect of SP on growth and survival of prostate cancer cells. Methods: The effect of SARS-CoV-2 SP on the survival of a widely-used prostate cancer cell line, LNCaP, was assessed using clonogenic cell survival assay and quick cell proliferation assay. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to investigate the expression of ICAM-2 and ICOSL. The survival of an additional prostate cancer cell line, PC-3, was also evaluated by clonogenic survival assay. Results: After 3 days, a significant decrease in the percentage of colonies in LNCaP cells treated with SP was found, which was paralleled by a decrease in optical density (OD) value in LNCaP cells in the presence of SP. A significant decrease in the percentage of colonies treated with SP was also found in PC-3 cells evaluated by clonogenic survival assay. In addition, the mRNA expression of ICAM-2 was lower, whereas the mRNA expression of ICOSL was higher in SP-treated LNCaP cells. This was supported by protein expressions for ICAM-2 and ICOSL evaluated with IHC. Conclusions: In LNCaP cells, SARS-CoV-2 SP downregulates the expression of ICAM-2 but upregulates the expression of ICOSL. SARS-CoV-2 SP inhibits growth of prostate cancer cells in a time-dependent manner. Further studies are needed to fully address the roles of ICAM-2 and ICOSL in the inhibition prostate cancer growth by SARS-CoV-2 SP.

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“…1B). This is consistent with our previous publication [27]. These results demonstrate that the SP of SARS-CoV-2 negatively affects the proliferation and survival of LNCaP cells.…”

Section: The Time-dependent Effect Of Sars-cov-2 Sp On Lncap and Pc-3...supporting

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

See 2 more Smart Citations

SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Influences Expression of ICOSL and ICAM-2 in Prostate Cancer

Echols¹,

Deng²,

Powers³

et al. 2022

JOMH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The anti-proliferative effect of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on prostate cancer cells was associated with downregulation of cyclin-dependent kinase 4. The increased apoptosis of prostate cancer cells induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was associated with the upregulation of Fas ligand [7]. We further expanded our study to investigate if SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has any effect on expression of costimulatory molecules.…”

Section: Letter To the Editormentioning

confidence: 93%