ScienceDaily (May 4, 2009) — Zoran Culig and colleagues at the Innsbruck Medical University, Austria have discovered that SOCS-1 negatively regulates prostate cancer proliferation.

This report can be found in the May 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

SOCS family members are expressed in a variety of cancers, including chronic myeloid leukemia, melanoma, and prostate cancer. The role of the various SOCS family members in carcinogenesis, however, may be tissue dependent.

Neuwirt et al identified SOCS-1 expression in multiple prostate cancer cell lines as well as in tissues from prostate cancer patients. They found that SOCS-1 blocks proliferation of prostate cancer cells and that inhibition of SOCS-1 expression stimulated tumor cell growth.

SOCS-1, therefore, plays a negative regulatory role in prostate cancer proliferation. In future studies they will address "other possible aspects of SOCS-1 action in carcinoma of the prostate, such as regulation of the immune response."

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by American Journal of Pathology.

Journal Reference:

1. Neuwirt H, Puhr M, Santer FR, Susani M, Doppler W, Marcias G, Rauch V, Brugger M, Hobisch A, Kenner L, Culig Z. Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS)-1 Is Expressed in Human Prostate Cancer and Exerts Growth-Inhibitory Function through Down-Regulation of Cyclins and Cyclin-Dependent Kinases. American Journal Of Pathology, 2009; 174 (5): 1921 DOI: 10.2353/ajpath.2009.080751

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