The splicing modulator sulfonamide indisulam reduces AR-V7 in prostate cancer cells

Abstract

Alternative splicing of the androgen receptor (AR) is frequently observed in castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). One AR isoform, the AR-V7 splice variant, is a constitutively active transcription factor which lacks a ligand binding domain and is therefore undruggable. AR-V7 expression correlates with resistance to androgen receptor signaling inhibitors (ARSi) and poor clinical prognoses. The occurrence of the AR-V7 splice variant is driven by alternative splicing of AR pre-mRNA by the spliceosome, however the mechanistic details are poorly understood. We demonstrate that the splicing factor RBM39 is critical for alternative splicing of the AR-V7 splice variant mRNA transcripts from AR pre-mRNA, and that the anti-cancer drug, indisulam, reduces AR-V7 mRNA levels by degrading RBM39. We report that indisulam effectively reduces AR-V7 in in vitro and in vivo models.