RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Loss of NEIL3 activates radiotherapy resistance in the progression of prostate cancer JF Cancer Biology & Medicine JO Cancer Biology & Medicine FD China Anti-Cancer Association SP 1193 OP 1210 DO 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2020.0550 VO 19 IS 8 A1 Wang, Qiong A1 Li, Zean A1 Yang, Jin A1 Peng, Shirong A1 Zhou, Qianghua A1 Yao, Kai A1 Cai, Wenli A1 Xie, Zhongqiu A1 Qin, Fujun A1 Li, Hui A1 Chen, Xu A1 Li, Kaiwen A1 Huang, Hai YR 2022 UL http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/19/8/1193.abstract AB Objective: To explore the genetic changes in the progression of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) and the reason why these cancers resist existing therapies.Methods: We employed our CRPC cell line microarray and other CRPC or NEPC datasets to screen the target gene NEIL3. Lentiviral transfection and RNA interference were used to construct overexpression and knockdown cell lines. Cell and animal models of radiotherapy were established by using a medical electron linear accelerator. Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis or cell cycle progression. Western blot and qPCR were used to detect changes in the protein and RNA levels.Results: TCGA and clinical patient datasets indicated that NEIL3 was downregulated in CRPC and NEPC cell lines, and NEIL3 was correlated with a high Gleason score but a good prognosis. Further functional studies demonstrated that NEIL3 had no effect on the proliferation and migration of PCa cells. However, cell and animal radiotherapy models revealed that NEIL3 could facilitate the radiotherapy sensitivity of PCa cells, while loss of NEIL3 activated radiotherapy resistance. Mechanistically, we found that NEIL3 negatively regulated the expression of ATR, and higher NEIL3 expression repressed the ATR/CHK1 pathway, thus regulating the cell cycle.Conclusions: We demonstrated that NEIL3 may serve as a diagnostic or therapeutic target for therapy-resistant patients.