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Growth factors as mediators of androgen action during male urogenital development
Author(s) -
Cunha Gerald R.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
the prostate
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.295
H-Index - 123
eISSN - 1097-0045
pISSN - 0270-4137
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0045(1996)6+<22::aid-pros5>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - paracrine signalling , morphogenesis , biology , prostate , growth factor , extracellular matrix , androgen receptor , receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , keratinocyte growth factor , medicine , endocrinology , androgen , cell growth , prostate cancer , hormone , cancer , genetics , gene
Studies on the developing prostate and seminal vesicle suggest that androgens act via mesenchymal androgen receptors to elicit synthesis and secretion of keratinocyte growth factor and probably other paracrine factors that regulate epithelial growth and morphogenesis. Clearly, the overall regulation of prostatic epithelial growth and ductal branching morphogenesis is complex and multifactorial, involving the interaction of both positive and negative regulators, extracellular matrix, cell surface receptors for growth factors, and vascularization. Future progress in our understanding of normal and abnormal prostatic growth will certainly be dependent upon the utilization of appropriate, biologically relevant models to examine the respective roles of these complex developmental processes. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.