Annexin A5 suppresses cyclooxygenase-2 expression by downregulating the protein kinase C-ζ-nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway in prostate cancer cells

// Hyoung-Seok Baek 1 , Nahee Park 1 , Yeo-Jung Kwon 1 , Dong-Jin Ye 1 , Sangyun Shin 1 , and Young-Jin Chun 1 1 College of Pharmacy and Center for Metareceptome Research, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea Correspondence to: Young-Jin Chun, email: yjchun@cau.ac.kr Keywords: ANXA5, COX-2, p65, PKC-ζ, auranofin Received: April 05, 2017     Accepted: June 17, 2017     Published: July 19, 2017 ABSTRACT Annexin A5 (ANXA5) is a member of the annexin protein family. Previous studies have shown that ANXA5 is involved in anti-inflammation and cell death. However, the detailed mechanism of the role of ANXA5 in cancer cells is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of ANXA5 on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in prostate cancer cells. Expression of COX-2 induced by TNF-α was inhibited by overexpression of ANXA5 and inhibition of COX-2 expression by auranofin, which could induce ANXA5 expression, was restored by ANXA5 knockdown. In addition, ANXA5 knockdown induces phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 in prostate cancer cells, indicating that ANXA5 causes COX-2 downregulation through inhibition of p65 activation. We also found that protein kinase C (PKC)-ζ protein levels were upregulated by the inhibition of ANXA5, although the mRNA levels were unaffected. We have shown that upregulated COX-2 expression by inhibition of ANXA5 is attenuated by PKC-ζ siRNA. In summary, this study demonstrates that downregulation of PKC-ζ-NF-κB signaling by ANXA5 may inhibit COX-2 expression in prostate cancer.