AR has been reported to promote disease progression and metastasis of prostate cancer (PCa). However, other studies suggested a suppressor role of AR on metastasis. We therefore studied the role of AR and androgen (AD) in PCa metastasis. Transwell assay and zebrafish model showed AR repressed the migration and invasion of cells in the absence of AD using PC-3AR(PC-3 cells with AR gene) cells. However, AR stimulated the cancer metastasis of PCa cells when AD was present. Co-IP showed AD augmented the interaction between YAP and AR inside nucleus. Knockdown of YAP abolished the AD-induced migration and invasion of PCa cells, while overexpression of YAP showed opposite effects. The miRNA array revealed AD decreased miR-5001-5p but increased miR-203a and miR-210-3p in PC-3AR cells. Treatment with inhibitors targeting miR-203a or miR-210-3p, or overexpression of miR-5001-5p suppressed the migration and invasion of PCa cells as well as decreased the expression of N-cadherin and YAP but increased abundance of E-cadherin. The data showed AR exhibits dual roles in PCa metastasis depending on the presence or absence of AD and is via regulation of miR-203a, miR-210-3p, miR-5001-5p and YAP
