Engulfing to Adapt: Efferocytosis by Epithelial Cells Triggers Cell State Transitions During Tissue Remodeling

Hormone deprivation treatments are a leading approach in prostate cancer treatment. Following deprivation, the organ regresses from a fully differentiated secretory organ to one less than 50% of the original size, that has been reprogrammed to a state primed for regeneration. Despite widespread use of hormone treatments, the events linking cellular apoptotic responses following prostate hormone deprivation and cell state reprogramming are not fully understood.

We report that the absence of hormones creates a microenvironment rich in apoptotic cells that are engulfed by neighboring prostate epithelial cells. Mechanistically, we found that epithelial cells alter their metabolism and gene expression during efferocytosis. Efferocytic epithelial cells adopt a more glycolytic metabolism, resulting in elevated levels of lactate production. This correlates with increased histone Lactylation over gene regulatory elements for genes regulating autophagy and catabolism. To further demonstrate that efferocytosis is necessary to remodel tissue during regression, we expressed a mutant of the receptor protein MFGE8, MFGE8-D89E to “mask” PtdSer in the prostate epithelium and reduce efferocytosis. This effectively prevented the cell and lumen size changes hormone-deprived prostates usually go through. Our findings suggest new perspectives on how epithelial cell efferocytosis can impact tissue remodeling and altered cellular states.