Prostate stromal cells express the LMO2 to control prostate cell proliferation and migration

We investigated the different gene expression between prostate peripheral zone stromal cells (PZs) and the transitional zone stromal cells (TZs), and found overexpression of LIM domain only 2 (LMO2) gene in PZs. Thus, the biological effects of LMO2 on prostate cell proliferation, migration in the stromal microenvironment were further explored, and the possible molecular mechanisms were explained. To determine if the expression of LMO2 by PZs is able to alter PC3 and BPH-1 cells growth, conditioned media (CM) was collected and was co-incubated with PC3 and BPH-1 cells. The proliferation and migration of both PC3 and BPH-1 were enhanced in the presence of CM derived from stromal cells which stably expressed LMO2, compared with the CM derived from control cells. By contrast, knockdown of the LMO2 in PZs could attenuate the proliferation and migration of cocultured PC3/BPH-1 cells in vitro. Mechanisms of the above phenomenon may be due to that LMO2 overexpressed stromal cells should induce prostate epithelial cell growth and migration via paracrine IL-11. STAT3 signaling pathway may be critical in the mechanisms of these biological effects.