The developing prostate gland is regulated by its hormonal milieu, most notably androgens, which dictate its growth and differentiation (Price, 1936; Lasnitzki and Mizuno, 1980). In addition, the developing prostate is sensitive to estrogenic exposures (Price, 1963). During prostate morphogenesis, elevated levels of endogenous estrogens (maternal or excess local production) or exogenous estroge...

Prostate tissue is composed of both androgen-dependent and -independent cells. To identify the gene program induced by effectors of apoptosis in both of these cell types, we performed differential hybridization on a complementary DNA library prepared from an androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line, AT-3, exposed to ionomycin. Five distinct complementary DNAs representing ionomycin-induci...

During the progression of prostate cancer, molecular changes occur resulting in the autocrine production of a series of neurotrophins by the malignant cells. This is coupled with expression of high-affinity cognate receptors for these ligands, termed trk receptors, by these cancer cells. The binding of the neurotrophins to their trk receptors activates the receptor's latent tyrosine kinase acti...

We investigated the utility of CWR22 human prostate cancer cells for modeling human metastatic prostate cancer, specifically their ability to induce bone formation following intra-tibial injections in the nude rat. Prostate cancer is unique in regard to its tropism for bone and ability to induce new bone formation. In contrast to humans, other mammalian species rarely develop prostatic cancer s...

The prostate gland is the most inflammation-prone organ in the male reproductive tract. However, little information is available regarding the immunobiology of this gland. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is considered to be a major sensor of danger signals and a key trigger of the innate immune responses. TLRs have also been implicated in the development of different inflammatory diseases in organs...

The prostate is one of the male accessory sex glands that produce fluid components of the seminal plasma. In addition to androgen, a normal innervation of the prostate is believed to be important for maintaining normal function of the prostate. Previously we noted that, in the rat, the weight of the prostate decreased following surgically induced spinal cord injury (SCI). This observation sugge...

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a potent inhibitor of prostate carcinogenesis in rats. However, concerns related to the possible androgenicity of DHEA may preclude its use for chemoprevention of human prostate cancer. Studies were performed to compare the androgenicity of DHEA and a fluorinated DHEA analog, 16alpha-fluoro-5-androsten-17-one (fluasterone), and to determine the chemopreventive a...

background: it is relevant to highlight that there is not a precise and perfect report on either 95 percentile value (upper limit of normal range) or on appropriate reference intervals for serum psa in iranian population. objective: to determine age-specific reference ranges for serum prostate-specific antigen (psa) concentration and psa density (psad) and prostate volumes in a population of he...

We recently demonstrated that the human chromosome 8p21-p12 region encodes a metastasis suppressor gene for rat prostate cancer. The presence of this region suppresses the metastatic ability of rat prostate cancer cells (N. Nihei et al., Genes Chromosomes Cancer, 17: 260-268, 1996). To define further the region harboring the metastasis suppressor gene, a truncated human chromosome 8 containing ...