Division of OncogenomicsThe Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Oncode InstituteThe Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Endocr Relat Cancer. 2018 Jun;25(6):R331-R349. doi: 10.1530/ERC-18-0042. Epub 2018 Apr 4.
Androgen receptor (AR) signaling is vital for the normal development of the prostate and is critically involved in prostate cancer (PCa). AR is not only found in epithelial prostate cells but is also expressed in various cells in the PCa-associated stroma, which constitute the tumor microenvironment (TME). In the TME, AR is expressed in fibroblasts, macrophages, lymphocytes and neutrophils. AR expression in the TME was shown to be decreased in higher-grade and metastatic PCa, suggesting that stromal AR plays a protective role against PCa progression. With that, the functionality of AR in stromal cells appears to deviate from the receptor's classical function as described in PCa cells. However, the biological action of AR in these cells and its effect on cancer progression remains to be fully understood. Here, we systematically review the pathological, genomic and biological literature on AR actions in various subsets of prostate stromal cells and aim to better understand the consequences of AR signaling in the TME in relation to PCa development and progression.
雄激素受体（AR）信号对于前列腺的正常发育至关重要，并且与前列腺癌（PCa）密切相关。AR 不仅存在于前列腺上皮细胞中，也存在于与 PCa 相关的基质中的各种细胞中，这些细胞构成了肿瘤微环境（TME）。在 TME 中，AR 在成纤维细胞、巨噬细胞、淋巴细胞和中性粒细胞中表达。在高级别和转移性 PCa 中，TME 中的 AR 表达减少，这表明基质 AR 对 PCa 进展起到保护作用。因此，AR 在基质细胞中的功能似乎偏离了 PCa 细胞中描述的受体的经典功能。然而，这些细胞中 AR 的生物学作用及其对癌症进展的影响仍有待充分理解。在这里，我们系统地回顾了关于 AR 在前列腺基质细胞各种亚群中的作用的病理学、基因组和生物学文献，旨在更好地了解 TME 中 AR 信号与 PCa 发展和进展的关系。
