CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CANINE AND RAT PROSTATE

本项目的目的是利用动物模型研究 良性前列腺增生的生物学 由于动物系统提供了更大的 在操纵宿主方面比人类对手灵活的程度 条件下，这些研究可以进行，以补充所获得的结果 从使用人类前列腺的研究中， 在宿主条件下进行可重复操作的研究， 这在人类系统中是很难实现的。 将使用大鼠前列腺 在目前的建议中，由于大量的信息， 大鼠前列腺的生物学已经可用。 狗的前列腺 也是一个重要的模型，因为狗是唯一的物种以外的人 已知在衰老过程中会发展为前列腺增生。 体内和体外实验 将被提议。 我们将利用体内实验进一步 描述了新认识的前列腺导管系统， 上皮细胞形态和功能活性的区域性变化 并且沿着大鼠前列腺的导管系统观察到基质细胞。 细胞增殖也有区域性分布， 分化和变性。 这一区域 细胞活动的变化为我们研究 雄激素受体分布和生长的区域差异 因素，并将这些参数与细胞生长相关联， 在正常稳态条件下的分化和变性， 改变生长条件。 体外实验主要包括 培养大鼠前列腺的基质或上皮细胞， 犬前列腺 这个系统将使我们能够研究 在培养的细胞上生长的前列腺的提取物， 识别前列腺中的天然生长因子。 这也会让我们 以确定与前列腺生长相关的因素， 对培养细胞的生物学行为的影响， 增殖和分化。 我们可以使用相同的系统来研究 从退化的前列腺提取物的效果，试图确定 前列腺退化的原因 成效 初步研究表明TGF-β可能与编程细胞有关 前列腺上皮细胞死亡。 从这些产生的信息 这些研究应作为将来使用人类前列腺进行研究的基础。

The objective of the present project is to use animal models to study the biology of benign prostatic growth. Since animal systems offer a greater degree of flexibility than the human counterpart in manipulation of host conditions, these studies can be conducted to complement findings obtained from studies using human prostates and to widen the scope of the investigation in which reproducible manipulation in host conditions is difficult to accomplish in a human system. The rat prostate will be used extensively in the present proposal, because a great deal of information on the biology of the rat prostate has been available. The canine prostate is also an important model, because dogs are the only species other than man known to develop BPH during aging. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments will be proposed. We will use the in vivo experiments to further characterize the newly recognized prostatic ductal system in which a regional variation in morphological and functional activity of epithelial and stromal cells was observed along the ductal system of the rat prostate. There was also a regional distribution of cell proliferation, differentiation, and degeneration in this ductal system. This regional variation in cellular activities offers an opportunity for us to study the regional variation in the distribution of androgen receptors and growth factors, and to correlate these parameters with cellular growth, differentiation, and degeneration under normal homeostatic conditions and under altered growth conditions. The in vitro experiments mainly involve culture of stromal or epithelial cells of either the rat prostate or the canine prostate. This system will allow us to study the effect of the extracts of growing prostates on the cultured cells in an attempt to identify the natural growth factors in the prostate. It will also allow us to identify the factors associated with the growing prostate that can have an impact on the biological behavior of the cultured cells in terms of proliferation and differentiation. We may use the same system to study the effect of extracts from the regressing prostate in an attempt to identify the factors responsible for prostatic regression. Results of our preliminary study indicated that TGF-beta may be linked to programmed cell death for prostatic epithelial cells. Information generated from these studies should serve as basis for future studies using the human prostate.