Inhibition of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V enhances sensitivity of radiotherapy in human prostate cancer

•We first evaluated the effect of GnT-V on radiation sensitivity of prostate cancer.•Higher level of GnT-V was detected more frequently in the PCa advanced tumors.•Attenuation of GnT-V inhibited cell proliferation, migration and increased apoptosis.•Knockdown of GnT-V could decrease radiation-induced G2/M arrest and NF-κB activity.•Inhibition of GnT-V may be involved in increasing radiation sensitivity of PCa cells.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V) and radiation sensitivity of prostate cancer (PCa) cells both in vitro and in vivo. Firstly, the GnT-V expression was studied in 84 cases of PCa tissues, in which higher level of GnT-V was detected more frequently in the advanced tumors. Secondly, the GnT-V stably suppressed cell lines PCa/1079 (Lncap/1079 and PC3/1079) were constructed from PCa cell lines (Lncap and PC3) in vitro. Attenuation of GnT-V inhibited cell proliferation, migration and increased apoptosis, which resulted in enhanced radiation sensitivity of PCa cells. The underlying mechanism may be relevant to the increasing ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, the blocking transcription of NF-κB and the reduction of cell cycle G2-M arrest. Finally, in in vivo study, compared with control groups, the irradiated PCa xenograft nude mice of PCa/1079 indicated to reduce tumor-growth rate and enhance survival time. Summary, our studies showed that inhibition of GnT-V probably improved PCa cells’ radiation sensitivity.