The principal function of the prostate is to provide the proteins and ions that form the bulk of the seminal fluid. The adult human prostate is a tubuloalveolar gland composed of ducts lined with a pseudostratified columnar epithelium. The cells lining the ducts are tall columnar and secretory with basal nuclei. A nearly continuous layer of basal epithelial cells abut the epithelial basement membrane. The prostatic epithelium is, in turn, surrounded by a dense fibromuscular stroma.

Development of the prostate begins with the growth of prostatic buds from the urogenital sinus at about 10 weeks of fetal development in the human.<sup>56 Kellokumpu-Lehtonen P., Santti R., Pelliniemi L.J. Correlation of early cytodifferentiation of the human fetal prostate and Leydig cells Anat Rec 1980 ;  196 : 263-273

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias, 77 Lowsley O.S. The development of the human prostate gland with reference to the development of other structures at the neck of the urinary bladder Am J Anat 1912 ;  13 : 299-349  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias</sup> Androgen receptors (AR) in the urogenital sinus mesenchyme (UGM) are stimulated by testicular androgens to induce epithelial budding, proliferation, and differentiation to form ductal structures.<sup>23 Cunha G.R., Donjacour A.A., Cooke P.S. , y al. The endocrinology and developmental biology of the prostate Endocr Rev 1987 ;  8 : 338-362  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias</sup> The epithelium differentiates into luminal and basal subtypes and expresses characteristic secretory markers. Concurrent with epithelial differentiation the UGM proliferates and differentiates into prostatic smooth muscle and interfascicular fibroblasts.<sup>39 Hayward S.W., Baskin L.S., Haughney P.C. , y al. Epithelial development in the rat ventral prostate, anterior prostate and seminal vesicle Acta Anat (Basel) 1996 ;  155 : 81-93  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias, 40 Hayward S.W., Baskin L.S., Haughney P.C. , y al. Stromal development in the ventral prostate, anterior prostate and seminal vesicle of the rat Acta Anat (Basel) 1996 ;  155 : 94-103  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias, 41 Hayward S.W., Brody J.R., Cunha G.R. An edgewise look at basal cells: Three-dimensional views of the rat prostate, mammary gland and salivary gland Differentiation 1996 ;  60 : 219-227  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias</sup> In the mature prostate androgens are believed to act upon prostatic smooth muscle (which expresses AR) to maintain a fully differentiated growth-quiescent epithelium via paracrine stromal–epithelial interactions.<sup>25 Cunha G.R., Hayward S.W., Dahiya R. , y al. Smooth muscle-epithelial interactions in normal and neoplastic prostatic development Acta Anat (Basel) 1996 ;  155 : 63-72  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias, 84 Nemeth J.A., Lee C. Prostatic ductal system in rats: Regional variation in stromal organization Prostate 1996 ;  28 : 124-128  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias</sup> The role of the epithelial AR is apparently restricted to regulating secretory functions.<sup>29 Donjacour A.A., Cunha G.R. Assessment of prostatic protein secretion in tissue recombinants made of urogenital sinus mesenchyme and urothelium from normal or androgen-insensitive mice Endocrinology 1993 ;  131 : 2342-2350  [cross-ref]

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias</sup> Growth factors are obvious candidates for the mesenchymally produced paracrine androgen-regulated factors (andromedins) that act on the epithelium.