# Ceramide NanoLiposomes as a novel therapeutic for prostate cancer

> **NIH NIH K00** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2022 · $77,757

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most incident cancer in men worldwide and despite vast amounts of
research, treatment of this disease remains elusive. The prostate is regulated by male hormones (e.g.
testosterone) that activate the androgen receptor (AR) to trigger signaling pathways involved in the organ’s
development and growth. In PCa, these hormones exert an important role in the onset and progression of the
disease, and therefore have been the main therapeutic target for PCa patients. However, virtually all patients
relapse and develop Castration-Resistant PCa (CRPC), the lethal stage of the disease. Therefore novel and
more efficacious therapeutics are extremely important for PCa patients.
 In the F99-phase of this project, the potential of sphingolipid-based therapeutics for PCa will be examined.
Ceramide nanoliposomes (CNL) are extremely efficacious in causing cell death of aggressive in vitro models of
PCa, and these liposomes have a therapeutic potential also when combined with FDA-approved drugs that target
the AR signaling axis. The working hypothesis is that AR regulates sphingolipid metabolism hindering the efficacy
of CNL in PCa. To investigate the relationship between the androgen receptor and ceramide metabolism, we will
specifically study (1) the mechanism’s by which AR regulates ceramide metabolism and how this impacts the
efficacy of conventional therapeutics in PCa cells and (2) the efficacy of novel therapeutics in preclinical models
of PCa to assess the translational potential of ceramide-based therapeutics for PCa. The novelty of the proposed
work will result in delineating novel lipid-centric molecular mechanisms in prostate cancer that can impact novel
therapeutics for patients with no current viable options.
 In the K00 component of this proposal, the impact of epigenetic marks in the regulation of lipid metabolism
in tumors will be determined. I will also determine how manipulating lipid metabolism impacts the epigenome in
cancer cells. Moreover, understanding the regulation between epigenetics and lipid biology in tumors will allow
for target identification and recognition of the key pathways regulating these crucial machineries in cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10413258
- **Project number:** 5K00CA245802-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Pedro Filipe Da Costa Pinheiro
- **Activity code:** K00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $77,757
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10413258

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10413258, Ceramide NanoLiposomes as a novel therapeutic for prostate cancer (5K00CA245802-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10413258. Licensed CC0.

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