First published online January 26, 2007
Development 134, 403e (2007)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Prostates get into shape with FGFR2
The adult prostrate depends on androgens for its growth and function - its
epithelium regresses when androgens are depleted. FGF signalling, through the
FGF receptor FGFR2, has been implicated in mouse prostate development, but
studies of FGFR2's role in prostate organogenesis have been hampered by the
early embryonic death of Fgfr2-null mutants. On
p. 723, Fen Wang's
group report, from their studies of conditional Fgfr2 mutant embryos,
that FGFR2 is required for prostate growth and morphogenesis and for certain
aspects of this organ's androgen dependency. Branching morphogenesis is
particularly affected in these mutants, and despite the continued ability of
Fgfr2 conditional mutant prostates to secrete proteins in response to
androgen, their ability to regulate tissue maintenance in an
androgen-dependent manner is compromised. As advanced prostate tumours can
often grow independently of androgen, further studies into the molecular
mechanisms that define how FGFR2 regulates the prostate's maintenance and
growth in an androgen-dependent manner could yield new therapeutic targets for
the treatment of these aggressive cancers.
Related articles in Development:
- Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 tyrosine kinase is required for prostatic morphogenesis and the acquisition of strict androgen dependency for adult tissue homeostasis
- Yongshun Lin, Guoqin Liu, Yongyou Zhang, Ya-Ping Hu, Kai Yu, Chunhong Lin, Kerstin McKeehan, Jim W. Xuan, David M. Ornitz, Michael M. Shen, Norman Greenberg, Wallace L. McKeehan, and Fen Wang
Development 2007 134: 723-734.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
