The metastatic
castration-resistant
prostate cancer (CRPC) is a lethal form of
prostate cancer, in which the expression of
androgen receptor (AR) is highly heterogeneous. Indeed, lower AR expression and attenuated AR signature activity is shown in CRPC tissues, especially in the subset of neuroendocrine
prostate cancer (NEPC) and
prostate cancer stem-like cells (PCSCs). However, the significance of AR downregulation in
androgen insensitivity and de-differentiation of
tumor cells in CRPC is poorly understood and much neglected. Our previous study shows that the
orphan nuclear receptor TLX (NR2E1), which is upregulated in
prostate cancer, plays an oncogenic role in prostate
carcinogenesis by suppressing oncogene-induced senescence. In the present study, we further established that TLX exhibited an increased expression in metastatic CRPC. Further analyses showed that overexpression of TLX could confer resistance to
androgen deprivation and anti-
androgen in
androgen-dependent
prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, whereas knockdown of endogenous TLX could potentiate the sensitivity to
androgen deprivation and anti-
androgen in
prostate cancer cells. Our study revealed that the TLX-induced resistance to
androgen deprivation and anti-
androgen was mediated through its direct suppression of AR gene transcription and signaling in both
androgen-stimulated and -unstimulated
prostate cancer cells. We also characterized that TLX could bind directly to AR promoter and repress AR transcription by recruitment of
histone modifiers, including HDAC1, HDAC3, and LSD1. Together, our present study shows, for the first time, that TLX can contribute to
androgen insensitivity in CRPC via repression of AR gene transcription and signaling, and also implicates that targeting the druggable TLX may have a potential therapeutic significance in CRPC management, particularly in NEPC and PCSCs.