Dissecting cell-type-specific roles of androgen receptor in prostate homeostasis and regeneration through lineage tracing

We used RNA-seq to compare the gene expression profiles of adult mouse prostate luminal cells and luminal cells that have the androgen receptor (AR) gene deleted. Our analyses show that AR-null luminal cells have altered expression levels of genes involved in cell-matrix adhesion, cytoskeleton regulation, and MAPK and TGF-beta signaling pathways. These results are consistent with our finding that AR-null luminal cells have abnormal cell morphology and loss of cell polarity. Lineage marked wild-type luminal cells and AR-deleted luminal cells were flow-sorted based on YFP fluorescence respectively, and their expression profiles were analyzed by RNA-seq.

本研究采用RNA测序（RNA-seq）技术，比较成年小鼠前列腺腔上皮细胞与雄激素受体（androgen receptor, AR）基因缺失型腔上皮细胞的基因表达谱。分析结果显示，AR缺失型腔上皮细胞中参与细胞-基质黏附、细胞骨架调控以及丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）、转化生长因子β（TGF-β）信号通路的基因表达水平发生改变。上述结果与我们观测到的AR缺失型腔上皮细胞存在异常细胞形态及细胞极性丧失的结论相一致。研究人员分别基于黄色荧光蛋白（YFP）荧光，对谱系标记的野生型腔上皮细胞与AR基因缺失型腔上皮细胞进行流式分选，并通过RNA测序（RNA-seq）分析其基因表达谱。