Androgen Receptor Expression in Developing Male Reproductive Organs*

Abstract

The distribution of androgen receptors (AR) in developing male BALB/c mouse reproductive organs was determined by 3H-dihydrotestosterone steroid autoradiography. The efferent ductules, urogenital sinus (UGS) and Wolffian ducts, and their derivatives, the epididymis, ductus deferens, seminal vesicles, coagulating glands, prostate and bulbouretheral glands, were examined in mice from 13-days fetal (gestation = 19-20 days) to 10 days postnatal. All organs contained AR in their mesenchymal/stromal cells at all times examined. The Wolffian ducts and UGS did not contain epithelial AR on days 13-14 or 16 of gestation. The efferent ductule was the first site of epithelial AR expression in the male tract during development; this organ had epithelial AR on day 16 and at all subsequent times. The epididymis and ductus deferens contained epithelial AR beginning on day 19 of gestation. Seminal vesicle and coagulating gland epithelium was AR- at birth, became weakly AR+ on day 1, and was strongly AR+ on day 2 and subsequently. Prostatic epithelium was AR- up to day 4, when some positive epithelial cells were seen; the prostatic epithelium was strongly AR+ on day 6 and subsequently. The last organ to begin expressing epithelial AR was the bulbouretheral gland; this epithelium did not become clearly AR+ until day 8 postnatally. In summary, these results indicate that initial epithelial AR expression in the male reproductive tract occurs in a clear temporal sequence and proceeds in a cranial-caudal direction. Epithelial AR first appear in the efferent ductules, followed by initial epithelial AR expression in Wolffian-derived organs and finally in the UGS-derived organs. The factors controlling initial epithelial AR expression are unclear, but mesenchyme may be involved.

Essential roles of inhibin beta A in mouse epididymal coiling

“…By using immunocytochemistry for AR, we found that AR proteins were restricted to the mesenchyme, and minimal staining was found in the epithelium at E15.5 in wild-type mesonephroi as described (8). At E17.5 and E19.5 AR continued to be expressed in the mesenchyme and also began to appear in the epithelium (representative image shown in Fig.…”

“…In mouse embryos, AR first appeared in the mesenchyme surrounding the Wolffian duct. Conversely, AR was not expressed in the ductal epithelium until embryonic day 15.5 (E15.5), when the ductal morphogenesis starts (8). In the absence of androgens, Wolffian duct mesenchyme underwent degeneration via apoptosis, indicating that androgens stabilize Wolffian duct development by directly acting on the Wolffian duct mesenchyme (9).…”

Targeting the Unique Methylation Pattern of Androgen Receptor (AR) Promoter in Prostate Stem/Progenitor Cells with 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-AZA) Leads to Suppressed Prostate Tumorigenesis

“…The AR in prostate stem/progenitor cells plays key roles in prostate development and differentiation processes (19,20) as well as in prostate cancer (PCa) initiation and progression (21,22). AR has CpG islands in the promoter and exon 1, and differential methylation patterns have been linked to various PCa cell lines with differential AR expression (23).…”

Pattern of keratinocyte growth factor and keratinocyte growth factor receptor expression during mouse fetal development suggests a role in mediating morphogenetic mesenchymal‐epithelial interactions

“…At 16 days of gestation, differentiation of urogenital sinus mesenchyme is not as advanced as that of the urinary bladder, and thus segregation of the mesenchyme into fibroblastic and smooth muscle layers has not occurred. The homogeneous androgen-receptor-positive mesenchyme of the urogenital sinus (Cooke et al, 1991;Shannon and Cunha, 1983) expressed KGF message throughout a t moderate levels (Fig. 8b).…”