Androgen-regulated gene expression in the rat ventral prostate : Differential effects of orchidectomy and flutamide treatment

Abstract

Thus, the present study provides a comprehensive view and complexities associated with in vivo studies on androgen-regulated gene expression in the rat ventral prostate using the castration model. Also, this study is the first to employ an anti-androgen to obtain insights into androgen regulation of gene expression using candidate gene approaches as well as methods of expression profiling such as differential display RTPCR and microarray. The data presented in the thesis strongly highlights the caveats in the concept of an androgen-regulated gene purely based on the rat castration Summary 172 Summary model. It provides the first demonstration of how altered proportion of different cell types in the prostate following castration can lead to misinterpretation of a gene as androgen-regulated. This is particularly relevant in the context of the searches for androgen-regulated genes as potential therapeutic targets for prostate cancer.