Abstract
Cytokeratin (CK) 8 mRNA expression in developing and degenerating rat prostate was studied using in situ hybridization with an antisense RNA-probe. It was found that: 1) the CK 8 antisense probe was accumulated only within prostatic epithelial cells; 2) after castration, CK 8 mRNA signals in ventral prostate (VP) sections were significantly increased, and elevated CK 8 mRNA expression persisted even long after prostate involution was complete; and 3) during prostate development, the strongest CK 8 mRNA staining was found in the early neonatal prostatic epithelia which were composed mainly of prostatic stem cells. Thereafter, a shift of CK 8 mRNA staining to peripheral regions and decreased overall CK 8 mRNA levels were noted. These data indicate that excessive expression of CK 8 mRNA is a characteristic of prostatic stem cells, and CK molecules are excellent markers for determining the hierarchical pathway of cell differentiation in prostate epithelium.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 237-241 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Chinese medical sciences journal = Chung-kuo i hsüeh k'o hsüeh tsa chih / Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 4 |
State | Published - Dec 1994 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)