Reduced growth and integrin expression of prostate cells cultured with lycopene, vitamin E and fish oil in vitro

Integrins are transmembrane proteins that facilitate the interaction of cells with the extracellular environment. They have also been implicated in cancer progression. The effects of nutrients thought to be involved in the prevention of prostate cancer on integrin expression have not been determined. Prostate cancer cell lines representing a range of malignancy from normal (RWPE-1) to highly invasive phenotypes (22Rv1 < LNCaP < ;PC-3) were cultured with or without lycopene (10nm), vitamin E (5 mu m) or fish oil (100 mu m) for 48 h. Growth and integrin (alpha(2)beta(1), alpha(v)beta(3) and alpha(v)beta(5)) expression were assessed using Trypan Blue exclusion and monoclonal antibodies combined with flow cytometry. Vitamin E enhanced (P<0.001) whereas fish oil reduced the growth of all the cell lines tested (P<0.001). Lycopene had no effect on growth. All the malignant cell lines exhibited lower expression of alpha(2)beta(1), with the addition of lycopene to culture media. Supplemental fish oil reduced alpha(2)beta(1) in most invasive cell lines (LNCaP and PC-3). Each nutrient at physiological levels reduced integrins alpha(v)beta(3) and alpha(v)beta(5) and 045 in most invasive cell lines (PC-3). The results suggest that integrins may represent an additional target of bioactive nutrients and that the effects of nutrients may be dependent on the type of cell line used.