Arrighi Nicola, Bodei Serena, Zani Danilo, Simeone Claudio, Cunico Sergio Cosciani, Missale Cristina, Spano Pierfranco, Sigala Sandra
Division of Urology, University of Brescia Medical School, P.le Spedali Civili 1, 25124 Brescia, Italy.
Growth Factors. 2010 Jun;28(3):191-201. doi: 10.3109/08977190903578678.
The prostate is one of the most abundant sources of nerve growth factor (NGF) in different species, including humans. NGF and its receptors are implicated in the control of prostate cell proliferation and apoptosis and it can either support or suppress cell growth. The co-expression of both NGF receptors, p75(NGFR) and tropomyosin-related kinase A (trkA), represents a crucial condition for the antiproliferative effect of NGF; indeed, p75(NGFR) is progressively lost during prostate tumorigenesis and its disappearance represents a malignancy marker of prostate adenocarcinoma (PCa). Interestingly, a dysregulation of NGF signal transduction was found in a number of human tumors. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the role of NGF and its receptors in prostate and in PCa. Conclusions bring to the hypothesis that the NGF network could be a candidate for future pharmacological manipulation in the PCa therapy: in particular the re-expression of p75(NTR) and/or the negative modulation of trkA could represent a target to induce apoptosis and to reduce proliferation and invasiveness of PCa.
前列腺是包括人类在内的不同物种中神经生长因子（NGF）最丰富的来源之一。NGF及其受体与前列腺细胞增殖和凋亡的控制有关，它既可以支持也可以抑制细胞生长。两种NGF受体，p75（NGFR）和原肌球蛋白相关激酶A（trkA）的共表达是NGF抗增殖作用的关键条件；事实上，p75（NGFR）在前列腺肿瘤发生过程中逐渐丢失，其消失代表前列腺腺癌（PCa）的恶性标志物。有趣的是，在许多人类肿瘤中发现了NGF信号转导的失调。本综述总结了目前关于NGF及其受体在前列腺和PCa中的作用的知识。结论提出了这样的假设，即NGF网络可能是未来PCa治疗中药理学操作的候选者：特别是p75（NTR）的重新表达和/或trkA的负调节可能代表诱导凋亡以及减少PCa增殖和侵袭性的靶点。
