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The impact of omega (ω)-3 fatty acids on prostate cancer is controversial in epidemiological studies but experimental studies suggest a protective effect. However, little is known about the mechanism of action. Here, we studied the effects of purified fatty acid molecules on prostate tumor progression using the TRAMP-C2 syngeneic immunocompetent mouse model. Compared with ω-6 or ω-9–supplemented animals, we observed that late-stage prostate tumor growth was reduced with a monoacylglyceride (MAG)-conjugated form of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) supplementation, whereas docosahexanenoic acid (DHA) caused an early reduction. MAG–EPA significantly decreased tumor blood vessel diameter (P < 0.001). RNA sequencing analysis revealed that MAG–EPA downregulated angiogenesis- and vascular-related pathways in tumors. We also observed this tissue vascular phenotype in a clinical trial testing MAG–EPA versus a high oleic sunflower oil placebo. Using anti-CD31 IHC, we observed that MAG–EPA reduced blood vessel diameter in prostate tumor tissue (P = 0.03) but not in normal adjacent tissue. Finally, testing autocrine and paracrine effects in an avascular tumor spheroid growth assay, both exogenous MAG–EPA and endogenous ω3 reduced VEGF secretion and in vitro endothelial cell tube formation and blocked tumor spheroid growth, suggesting that ω3 molecules can directly hinder prostate cancer cell growth. Altogether, our results suggest that fatty acids regulate prostate cancer growth and that a tumor-specific microenvironment is required for the anti-vascular effect of MAG–EPA in patients with prostate cancer.Implications:Increasing the amount of ingested EPA omega-3 subtype for patients with prostate cancer might help to reduce prostate tumor progression by reducing tumor vascularization.

Neurotransmitter sensing is essential in biomedical research to understand brain behavior, with Optical sensing useful for passive measurements. For instance, visible-light spectrophotometry can be used to detect and measure neurotransmitter concentrations in liquid. An important part of the process is the prediction of molecule concentration from the measured data. This work describes an FPGA-based system to measure neurotransmitter concentration in a multi-sensor platform, using a visible-light optical spectrometer and a simple regression predictor. The design required very few hardware resources and it was tested on dopamine data with excellent results.

Epigenetic regulation of gene expression by DNA methylation plays a central role in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Here we present evidence implicating the DNA methylation program in the regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) oxygen-sensing machinery and hypoxic cell metabolism. We show that DNA methyltransferase 3a (DNMT3a) methylates and silences the HIF-2α gene (EPAS1) in differentiated cells. Epigenetic silencing of EPAS1 prevents activation of the HIF-2α gene program associated with hypoxic cell growth, thereby limiting the proliferative capacity of adult cells under low oxygen tension. Naturally occurring defects in DNMT3a, observed in primary tumors and malignant cells, cause the unscheduled activation of EPAS1 in early dysplastic foci. This enables incipient cancer cells to exploit the HIF-2α pathway in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment necessary for the formation of cellular masses larger than the oxygen diffusion limit. Reintroduction of DNMT3a in DNMT3a-defective cells restores EPAS1 epigenetic silencing, prevents hypoxic cell growth, and suppresses tumorigenesis. These data support a tumor-suppressive role for DNMT3a as an epigenetic regulator of the HIF-2α oxygen-sensing pathway and the cellular response to hypoxia.