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Immunocytochemical localization of 5α-reductase type 1 in the prostate of normal and castrated rats

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Abstract

We immunohistochemically studied the localization of 5α-reductase type 1 in combination with androgen receptor (AR) expression in individual lobes of the prostates of intact and castrated rats. In the normal rat prostate, 5α-reductase was localized in the cytoplasm of most epithelial cells in the ventral, dorsal, and lateral type 1 (L1) lobes. Epithelial cells of lateral type 2 (L2) lobes were negative for 5α-reductase. AR was present in the nuclei of all epithelial and stromal cells throughout the prostate. The number of 5α-reductase-immunoreactive cells rapidly decreased in the ventral and L1 lobes after castration, whereas many positive cells remained in the dorsal lobe even at 4 weeks after castration. AR immunostaining was lost in the ventral, dorsal, and L1 lobes at 1 week after castration, but remained in the L2 lobe of 4-week-castrated rats. Electron microscopic immunocytochemistry showed that 5α-reductase was exclusively localized in the rough endoplasmic reticulum membranes and that there were no distinct structural differences between the positively and negatively stained epithelial cells. These findings suggested that the expression of 5α-reductase type 1 in the epithelial cell is heterogeneous within and among the individual lobes of the rat prostate, and does not correspond to AR expression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, School of Medicine, The University of Tokushima, 770, Tokushima, Japan

    Tadayuki Miyamoto & Susumu Kagawa

  2. Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology, Niigata College of Pharmacy, 950-21, Niigata, Japan

    Kouki Kitagawa

  3. Department of Medical Biotechnology, Institute of Medical Resources, The University of Tokushima, 770, Tokushima, Japan

    Shiroh Futaki

  4. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, The University of Tokushima, 770, Tokushima, Japan

    Hiromichi Yokoi, Yoshihiro Tsuruo & Kazunori Ishimura

Authors
  1. Tadayuki Miyamoto
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  2. Susumu Kagawa
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  3. Kouki Kitagawa
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  4. Shiroh Futaki
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  5. Hiromichi Yokoi
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  6. Yoshihiro Tsuruo
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  7. Kazunori Ishimura
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Miyamoto, T., Kagawa, S., Kitagawa, K. et al. Immunocytochemical localization of 5α-reductase type 1 in the prostate of normal and castrated rats. Histochem Cell Biol 105, 101–109 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01696149

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01696149

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