LAUSR

Androgen deprivation is the paradigm of prostate cancer treatment. It is often linked to the loss of luminal cells, but the basal cell fates under androgen deprivation, prostatitis and cancer initiation remain unclear. Using a genetic proliferation tracer (ProTracer) system, we found that adult prostate basal cells also had extensive cell loss and proliferation during androgen-mediated prostate regression and regeneration. A rare basal population that expresses luminal cell genes (termed Basal-B) and a large basal population (termed Basal-A) were identified in the mouse prostate by single-cell RNA sequencing. Basal-B cells exhibited greater capacity for organoid formation and luminal cell differentiation in vitro. Basal-A and Basal-B cells were specifically tracked at the same time in vivo using a genetic lineage-tracing system that uses dual recombinases (Cre and Dre). Fate-mapping showed that prostate basal regeneration is not driven by rare Basal-B cells. Clonal analysis showed that Basal-B cells had the better tendency to generate luminal cells under bacteria-induced prostatitis. Moreover, oncogenic transformation of basal cells promoted the Basal-B cell marker gene expression in vivo. This study provides genetic evidence of a bona fide of basal cell lineage plasticity under androgen deprivation, prostatitis and oncogenic transformation contexts. Citation Format: Dong Gao. Basal cell lineage plasticity in prostate homeostasis, repair and tumor initiation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Prostate Cancer Research; 2023 Mar 15-18; Denver, Colorado. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(11 Suppl):Abstract nr PR009.