This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Banerjee, P. P. Articles by Brown, T. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Banerjee, P. P. Articles by Brown, T. R.

Bcl-2 Protein Expression Correlates with Cell Survival and Androgen Independence in Rat Prostatic Lobes

Division of Reproductive Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Terry R. Brown, Division of Reproductive Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205. E-mail: . ppb{at}georgetown.edu

Castration of young and old male Brown Norway rats induces apoptosis in the ventral, but not in the dorsal and lateral, lobes of the prostate gland, and apoptosis in old rats is diminished by 50% compared with that in young rats. In this study we examined the lobe-specific and age-dependent expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins. Bcl-2 levels in the ventral lobe were 5-fold lower compared with expression in the dorsal and lateral lobes. Bax expression in the ventral lobe was 2- and 20-fold higher than that in the lateral and dorsal lobes, respectively. In all three lobes, Bcl-2 was detected in epithelial cells, but not in stromal cells, whereas Bax protein was localized in both cell types. After castration, Bcl-2 expression in the ventral lobe decreased significantly from the control level after 2–3 d, but increased significantly by 7–10 d. By contrast, Bax expression increased significantly by d 1, gradually decreased by 2–4 d, and was nearly undetectable by 7–10 d postcastration. In the dorsal and lateral lobes, neither Bcl-2 nor Bax expression was significantly altered after castration. In the ventral lobe of old rats after castration, Bcl-2 followed a pattern of expression similar to that observed in young rats. However, Bax levels were 50% lower in old rats compared with those in young rats on d 1 after castration. Therefore, cell death follows the down-regulation of Bcl-2 expression in the ventral lobe of young and old rats. Moreover, the higher relative levels of Bcl-2 expression in the dorsal and lateral lobes of intact animals and in the ventral lobe by 7–10 d after castration serve to protect cells from apoptosis.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Yan and T. R. Brown Cell Proliferation and Expression of Cell Cycle Regulatory Proteins that Control the G1/S Transition Are Age Dependent and Lobe Specific in the Brown Norway Rat Model of Prostatic Hyperplasia Endocrinology, January 1, 2008; 149(1): 193 - 207. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. V. Desai, A. M. Michalowska, P. Kondaiah, J. M. Ward, J. H. Shih, and J. E. Green Gene Expression Profiling Identifies a Unique Androgen-Mediated Inflammatory/Immune Signature and a PTEN (Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog Deleted on Chromosome 10)-Mediated Apoptotic Response Specific to the Rat Ventral Prostate Mol. Endocrinol., December 1, 2004; 18(12): 2895 - 2907. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. F. Badawi, Y. Liu, M. B. Eldeen, W. Morrow, Z. R. Razak, M. Maradeo, and M. Z. Badr Age-associated changes in the expression pattern of cyclooxygenase-2 and related apoptotic markers in the cancer susceptible region of rat prostate Carcinogenesis, September 1, 2004; 25(9): 1681 - 1688. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Omezzine, C. Mauduit, E. Tabone, N. Nabli, A. Bouslama, and M. Benahmed Caspase-3 and -6 Expression and Activation Are Targeted by Hormone Action in the Rat Ventral Prostate During the Apoptotic Cell Death Process Biol Reprod, September 1, 2003; 69(3): 752 - 760. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]