African American (AA) men are disproportionally affected by prostate cancer (PCa) compared to men of any other ancestral background. Previous studies suggest that there are genes that play a role in PCa development and metastasis. Studies have also shown that during cancer progression, cancer cells synthesize and secrete matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) which degrade the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM); thus allowing them to escape into the lymphatic or circulatory systems to invade other tissues. Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) has been shown to induce the migratory and invasive behavior of cancer cells as well as the expression of MMPs such as a MMP2 and MMP9 in several malignancies. Our recent studies show that TGFβ induces migration and invasion in PCa cell lines derived from AA patients. In this study, we treated AA PCa cell lines, E006AA and E006AA-HT with TGFβ1 and TGFβ3 in the presence or absence of TGFβRII inhibitor (LY2157299) for 24hrs and examined its effect on MMP2 and MMP9 gene expressions and protein levels. Our data shows that TGFβ1 and TGFβ3 induce MMP2 and MMP9 expressions; however, treatment with LY2157299 decreases their expressions suggesting that TGFβ signaling may be required for MMP2 and MMP9 function during PCa progression.
