Diagnostic events (in squares) in the sequence of screening and follow-up for prostate cancer. The size and darkness of the curved arrows indicate the current knowledge regarding diagnostic tools. Block arrows indicate the function of diagnostic modalities regarding the outcome of events.
Comparison of the gross anatomy of the human (left) and rat (right) prostate
PZ = peripheral zone; CZ = central zone; TZ = transition zone; fm = anterior fibromuscular stroma; UD = distal urethra; UP = proximal urethral segment; E = ejaculatory ducts; bn = bladder neck; s = preprostatic and distal striated urethral sphincters; C = coronal plane; OC = oblique coronal plane; BL = bladder; SV = seminal vesicles; CG = coagulating gland; V = ventral lobe of the prostate; L = lateral lobe of the prostate; D = distal lobe of the prostate; Bur G = bulbourethral gland; UR = urethra; PU = pubis; vas deferens; CE = cauda epididymis.
Reproduced from Price D. Comparative aspects of development and structure in the prostate. In: Vollmer EP, editor. Biology of the prostate and related tissues. Vol. XII. Bethesda (MD): Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare (US); 1963.; and Jesik CJ, Holland JM, Lee C. An anatomic and his-tologic study of the rat prostate. Prostate 1982; 3.
Aspartate transport and citrate production in prostate luminal epithelial cells
The low affinity L-aspartate transporter Na+-K+ ATPase and a citrate transporter are represented at the apical membrane. The high affinity L-aspartate transporter and glucose transporters are represented in the basal membrane.
Reproduced from Lao L, Franklin R B, Costello L C. High-affinity L-aspartate transporter in prostate epithelial cells that is regulated by testosterone. Prostate 1993; 22.
A
Various prostate cells in the absence of trophic factors
is presented: BPH < NHP< LNCaP < PCA< PC3<PCA< DU 145. Shown above are changes in apoptosis proteins. (Refer to text for details.) No change; increase (upward arrowhead); decrease (downward arrowhead); little or no expression (little/no). Shown in the middle are the cell growth and apoptosis properties of various prostate cells in the absence of trophic factors, as deduced from preceding figures. (- = no growth;. + to +++ = different levels of apoptosis.) The BPH and NHP cells did not proliferate at all and demonstrated fast apoptotic kinetics. The LNCaP cells demonstrated a low level of proliferation and an intermediate level of apoptosis. The PC3 cells demonstrated very aggressive growth and intermediate levels of apoptosis. The PCA and DU 145 cells, in contrast, demonstrated a rapid cell proliferation as well as much delayed and decreased levels of apoptosis. B, Summary of molecular events leading to differential survivabilities of normal versus cancerous prostate epithelial cells in the absence of trophic factors. Note that there exist exceptions to this generalized scheme. For example, PCA cells possess wild-type P53 and express little/no bcl-2.
Reproduced from Tang D G, Li L, Chopra D P, Porter A T. Extended survivability of prostate cancer cells in the absence of trophic factors: increased proliferation, evasion of apoptosis, and the role of apoptosis proteins. Cancer Res 1998; 58.
Loss of genome protective function in high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) based on proliferation compartment infidelity.
Reproduced from De Marzo A M, Nelson W G, Meeker A K, Coffey D S. Stem cell features of benign and malignant prostate epithelial cells. J Urol 1998; 160.
Schematic diagram of the human androgen receptor gene
Black areas = trans-activation domains; P = proline directed phosphorylated Ser residues; HSP = heat shock protein; pKC = protein kinase C; pKA = protein kinase A; MAPK = mitogen-activated protein kinase; DNA-Dep Kin = DNA-dependent kinase; Ser-Pro = serine-proline directed kinase; Cas-Kin II = casein kinase II.
Adapted from Wiener et al., MacLean et al., Blok et al., and Zhou et al.
Effects of tissue localization of the androgen receptor on differentiation of the urogenital sinus (UGS)
Epithelium and stroma from the urogenital sinuses of wild-type (androgen-receptor positive) or Tfm (androgen-receptor negative) mice were recombined and grafted under the renal capsule. Prostatic epithelium was obtained when wild-type or Tfm epithelium was recombined with wild-type stroma. Recombination of wild-type or Tfm epithelium with Tfm stroma resulted in development of a vaginal morphology.
Reproduced with permission from Cunha G R, Chung W K, Shannon J M, Reese B G. Stromal-epithelial interactions in sex differentiation. Biol Reprod 1980; 22.
