Identification of an NKX3.1-G9a-UTY transcriptional regulatory network that controls prostate differentiation

Abstract

Clues to cancer from an identity change The prostate and seminal vesicle have closely related developmental histories and both are regulated by the same androgenic hormones. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling the development of the two tissues could help solve why cancer arises frequently in the prostate but only rarely in seminal vesicles. Working with cell and mouse models, Dutta et al. show that forced expression of a single gene, the homeobox gene NKX3.1 , causes seminal vesicle epithelium to differentiate into prostate. NKX3.1 regulates the expression of a gene program associated with prostate differentiation by interacting with the G9a histone methyltransferase. Disruption of this regulatory network probably contributes to prostate cancer development. Science , this issue p. 1576