Retinoic acid binding protein in normal and neoplastic rat prostate

Abstract

Sucrose density gradient analysis of cytosol from normal and neoplastic rat prostatic tissues exhibited a peak of (3H) retinoic acid binding in the 2S region, corresponding to the cytoplasmic retinoic acid binding protein (cRABP). In the Fisher-Copenhagen F1 rat, cRABP was present in the lateral lobe, but could not be detected in the ventral nor in the dorsal prostatic lobes. Four sublines of the R-3327 rat prostatic tumor contained similar levels of this binding protein. The absence of cRABP in the normal tissue of origin of the R-3327 tumor, the rat dorsal prostate, and reappearance in the neoplastic tissues follows a pattern described in other human and animal tumors. The occurrence of cRABP in the well-differentiated as well as in the anaplastic R-3327 tumors in which markers which reflect a state of differentiation and hormonal regulation, such as androgen receptor, 5 alpha reductase, and secretory acid phosphatase are either markedly reduced or absent, points to cRABP as a marker of malignant transformation.

Diet, Nutrition, and Prostate Cancer

“…In organ culture studies of prostate tissue, retinol was shown to reverse squamous metaplasia induced by treatment with chemical carcinogens (11,97). Retinol binding proteins have also been reported in prostate cells (18,50,83). We recently reported vitamin A concentrations in the prostate at 1-3 nmol/g, which is within a range where biological effects have been observed in vitro (25).…”