ERRγ impedes neuroendocrine prostate cancer development

Abstract

Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a lethal subtype of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of CRPC toward NEPC remain incompletely understood, and effective treatments remain to be discovered. Here, we report that loss of the nuclear receptor ERRγ promotes neuroendocrine differentiation in a Pten-deficient mouse model of prostate adenocarcinoma. These findings were recapitulated in advanced cellular and xenograft models of human prostate cancer. Critically, we show that ERRγ gain of function can reverse instilled NEPC features accompanied by suppression of growth and oncogenic metabolic reprogramming. Activation of a neuroendocrine transcriptional program enabled by ERRγ deficiency unveiled a targetable vulnerability exploited by the combined pharmacological inhibition of EZH2 and RET kinase that effectively inhibited the growth of ERRγ-deficient tumor organoids and cells. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that ERRγ downregulation facilitates prostate cancer adeno-to-neuroendocrine transformation and offer potential therapeutic strategies to prevent/treat the development of poor outcome NEPC.