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Man-made prostate created by women
February 23, 2006In a giant step towards understanding prostate disease, Melbourne scientists have grown a human prostate from embryonic stem cells.
A study published in the March edition of Nature Methods describes how human embryonic stem cells were developed into human prostate tissue equivalent to that found in a young man, in just 12 weeks.
Co-first authors of the study, Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR) scientists PhD student Prue Cowin and Dr Renea Taylor (also from the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories), said the discovery will allow scientists to monitor the progression of the prostate from a normal to a diseased state for the first time.
"We need to study healthy prostate tissue from 15-25 year old men to track this process. Understandably, there is a lack of access to samples from men in this age group, so to have found a way we can have an ongoing supply of prostate tissue is a significant milestone," said Dr Taylor.
"As nearly every man will experience a problem with their prostate, we're very excited about the impact our research will have," she said. While prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, the impact of benign prostate disease (BPH) is equally significant-up to 90 percent of men will have BPH by the time they reach 80 years of age. BPH is not usually life-threatening, but has a dramatic impact on quality of life.
Prue Cowin said the discovery will allow scientists to observe first-hand the factors that play a role in the development of prostate disease.
"The tissue we've grown behaves as a normal human prostate, so it's the perfect model for testing the different hormones and environmental factors we believe play a role in the onset of prostate disease," said Prue.
"We grew the prostate tissue by 'telling' the embryonic stem cells how to become a human prostate gland. We then implanted the cells into mice, where they developed into a human prostate, secreting hormones and PSA; the substance in the blood used to diagnose prostate disease," she said.
Professor Gail Risbridger, Director of MIMR's Centre for Urological Research and leader of the research project, said the discovery will have a significant impact on prostate cancer and BPH research.
"If we can understand how to make normal prostate, we can work out how BPH develops as part of the normal ageing process," she said. "We will also have the opportunity to study the transition of healthy prostate tissue to cancer. Not only will this enable us to develop new, more effective ways of treating diseases that affect nearly every man, but we hope, eventually, to find a way to prevent these diseases in the first place," said Professor Risbridger.
Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories at Monash University, Professor Alan Trounson said stem cells and cancer were an important new area of medical research and the production of prostate tissue from embryonic stem cells provides a new tool for examining the origins of cancer and role of primitive stem cells.
Research collaborators are the Monash Institute of Medical Research, Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories, Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, USA, Australian Stem Cell Centre and TissuPath Laboratories, Melbourne.
Research Australia
"We need to study healthy prostate tissue from 15-25 year old men to track this process. Understandably, there is a lack of access to samples from men in this age group, so to have found a way we can have an ongoing supply of prostate tissue is a significant milestone," said Dr Taylor.
"As nearly every man will experience a problem with their prostate, we're very excited about the impact our research will have," she said. While prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, the impact of benign prostate disease (BPH) is equally significant-up to 90 percent of men will have BPH by the time they reach 80 years of age. BPH is not usually life-threatening, but has a dramatic impact on quality of life.
Prue Cowin said the discovery will allow scientists to observe first-hand the factors that play a role in the development of prostate disease.
"The tissue we've grown behaves as a normal human prostate, so it's the perfect model for testing the different hormones and environmental factors we believe play a role in the onset of prostate disease," said Prue.
"We grew the prostate tissue by 'telling' the embryonic stem cells how to become a human prostate gland. We then implanted the cells into mice, where they developed into a human prostate, secreting hormones and PSA; the substance in the blood used to diagnose prostate disease," she said.
Professor Gail Risbridger, Director of MIMR's Centre for Urological Research and leader of the research project, said the discovery will have a significant impact on prostate cancer and BPH research.
"If we can understand how to make normal prostate, we can work out how BPH develops as part of the normal ageing process," she said. "We will also have the opportunity to study the transition of healthy prostate tissue to cancer. Not only will this enable us to develop new, more effective ways of treating diseases that affect nearly every man, but we hope, eventually, to find a way to prevent these diseases in the first place," said Professor Risbridger.
Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories at Monash University, Professor Alan Trounson said stem cells and cancer were an important new area of medical research and the production of prostate tissue from embryonic stem cells provides a new tool for examining the origins of cancer and role of primitive stem cells.
Research collaborators are the Monash Institute of Medical Research, Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories, Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, USA, Australian Stem Cell Centre and TissuPath Laboratories, Melbourne.
Research Australia
Prostate News and Current Prostate Events RSSNTP finalizes report on Bisphenol A
Current human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in many polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, is of "some concern" for effects on development of the prostate gland and brain and for behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children, according to a final report released today by the National Toxicology Program (NTP).
Too much calcium in blood may increase risk of fatal prostate cancer
Men who have too much calcium in their bloodstreams may have an increased risk of fatal prostate cancer, according to a new analysis from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Wisconsin.
Height linked to risk of prostate cancer development and progression
A man's height is a modest marker for risk of prostate cancer development, but is more strongly linked to progression of the cancer, say British researchers who conducted their own study on the connection and also reviewed 58 published studies.
Health risk behaviors associated with lower prostate specific antigen awareness
According to a study conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, health risk behaviors such as smoking and obesity are associated with lower awareness of the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), which could lead to a lower likelihood of undergoing actual prostate cancer screening.
Study shows PDE5 inhibitor more effective when used on demand in erectile dysfunction
European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology will be featuring the article 'Effect of nightly versus on-demand vardenafil on recovery of erectile function in men following bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy' by F. Montorsi et al.in the October issue, showing for the first time that vardenafil, a PDE5 inhibitor, is more efficacious when used on-demand in men with erectile dysfunction, supporting a shift towards on-demand dosing with PDE5 inhibitors in this patient group.
Satisfaction and regret after radical prostatectomy procedures studied
Studies have shown that approximately 16% of patients with localised prostate cancer regret their treatment choice. European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology, will be publishing an article by J.W. Moul et al. comparing differences in satisfaction and regret between patients who underwent open retropubic radical prostatectomy and robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
State's first single incision robotic kidney removal
For the first time in Michigan, a diseased kidney has been surgically removed at Henry Ford Hospital using highly sophisticated 3D robotics through a single incision.
Normalizing tumor vessels to improve cancer therapy
Chemotherapy drugs often never reach the tumors they're intended to treat, and radiation therapy is not always effective, because the blood vessels feeding the tumors are abnormal-"leaky and twisty" in the words of the late Judah Folkman, MD, founder of the Vascular Biology program at Children's Hospital Boston.
Anti-tumor effects are enhanced by inhibiting 2 pathways rather than 1
Two independent research groups have found that simultaneous inhibition of two signaling pathways resulted in substantially enhanced antitumor effects in mouse models of prostate and breast cancer. In an accompany commentary, Steven Grant, at Virginia Commonwealth University Health Science Center, Richmond, discusses the clinical importance of these studies and highlights some of the questions that still need to be answered.
To protect against liver disease, body puts cells 'under arrest'
A stable form of cell-cycle arrest known to offer potent protection against cancer also limits liver fibrosis, a condition characterized by an excess of fibrous tissue, according to a new report in the August 22nd Cell, a Cell Press publication.
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