Felisbino Sergio L, Justulin Junior Luis A, Carvalho Hernandes F, Taboga Sebastião R
Department of Morphology, Institute of Biosciences, Sao Paulo State University UNESP, Box 510, 18618-000 Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
Cell Biol Int. 2007 Oct;31(10):1173-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cellbi.2007.03.034. Epub 2007 Mar 31.
Epithelial cells from involuting rat ventral prostate (VP) express Matrilysin (MMP-7) mRNA. Herein, we investigated by immunohistochemistry the MMP-7 protein location and its association with tissue changes following castration in the VP. Normal and castrated adult male Wistar rats were sacrificed at different times after surgery. VP was examined by immunocytochemistry and immunoprecipitation. Castration promoted a shrinking of prostate ducts with an extensive stromal remodeling. In the VP from normal rats, MMP-7 immunoreactivity was found in epithelial secretory granules. Three days after castration, immunostaining for MMP-7 was found in both the epithelial secretory granules and in the stroma just below the epithelium, mainly at the distal ductal tips. At seven and 21 days after castration, the immunostaining for MMP-7 was found only in the stromal space. Immunoprecipitation confirmed the specificity of the primary antibody by rescuing a pro-enzyme form (28kDa) in the prostate extracts. The present results suggest that MMP-7 participates in the epithelial-stromal interface remodeling of the ventral prostate during the involution achieved by castration, probably in the degradation of components of the epithelial basement membrane.
正在退化的大鼠腹侧前列腺（VP）的上皮细胞表达基质溶素（MMP - 7）mRNA。在此，我们通过免疫组织化学研究了MMP - 7蛋白的定位及其与去势后VP组织变化的关系。对正常和去势的成年雄性Wistar大鼠在手术后不同时间进行处死。通过免疫细胞化学和免疫沉淀对VP进行检测。去势促进了前列腺导管的萎缩以及广泛的基质重塑。在正常大鼠的VP中，MMP - 7免疫反应性存在于上皮分泌颗粒中。去势三天后，在前列腺上皮分泌颗粒以及上皮下方紧邻的基质中发现了MMP - 7免疫染色，主要位于导管远端。去势七天和二十一天后，MMP - 7免疫染色仅在基质空间中发现。免疫沉淀通过在前列腺提取物中挽救一种酶原形式（28kDa）证实了一抗的特异性。目前的结果表明，MMP - 7在去势导致的退化过程中参与了腹侧前列腺上皮 - 基质界面的重塑，可能参与了上皮基底膜成分的降解。
