Isolation and Characterization of Prostate Stem Cells

Abstract

Based on the unique capacity of the rodent prostate to undergo seemingly endless rounds of androgen cycling in response to castration and androgen add-back, the prostate has been proposed to contain long-term self-renewing stem cells. However the prospective isolation and characterization of stem-like cells from rodent and human prostate tissue has only been described over the last 2 decades. Several models of epithelial homeostasis in the adult prostate have been proposed based on either the presence of a multipotent tissue stem cell that differentiates through a series of intermediate developmental stages or the coexistence of multiple unipotent lineage-restricted stem cells. The isolation of cells with stem and progenitor activity is an important first step to delineate the epithelial hierarchy of the prostate. In addition, isolation of stem cells allows characterization of their functional capacities and the molecular programs regulating their activity. These studies will enable detection or targeting of stem and progenitor cells during various stages of neoplastic transformation and tumor progression, including the lethal phase of the disease, castration-resistant prostate cancer.