Expression and cellular localization of keratinocyte growth factor and its receptor in human hyperplastic prostate tissue.

It is well recognized that the actions of androgens alone do not explain the hyperplastic development of the gland that occurs in elderly men. The increasing number of reports confirming the lack of mitogenic activity of androgens coupled with the powerful mitogenic activity of growth factors and the discovery of growth factor receptors led to an increased interest in the putative role of growth factors in prostate physiopathology. We have previously demonstrated the presence and the cellular localization of epidermal growth factor and of the related peptide, transforming growth factor-alpha, together with their common receptor in the epithelial compartment of the human hyperplastic prostate tissue (BPH). In the present study we examined the expression and cellular localization of messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA) encoding keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and its receptor in human hyperplastic prostate tissue. RT-PCR of total RNA extracted from BPH tissues documented the presence of transcripts for KGF and its receptor. In situ hybridization with specific RNA probes synthesized from the respective complementary DNA demonstrated that KGF mRNA was mainly localized in the stromal cells, whereas its receptor was mainly localized in the prostate epithelium. Moreover, the mitogenic activity of KGF on cultured BPH cells compared to that of other growth factors has been tested. Our findings clearly indicate that KGF has the ability to function as a potent mitogen in BPH cells. Our data support the hypothesis that KGF plays an important role in prostate growth and that in human prostate it seems to act in a paracrine fashion.