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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Mar 31.
Published in final edited form as: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Nov;1089:1–13. doi: 10.1196/annals.1386.009

FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 4

A schematic representation of the lobe-specific, estrogen-induced alterations in critical morphoregulatory genes in the rodent prostate. Brief neonatal exposure to high-dose estradiol results in alterations in expression, of key developmental genes in a lobe-specific manner that produces lobe-specific phenotypes. In the dorsoalateral lobes, estrogens suppress Shh signaling and Fgf 10 signaling, transiently reduce Nkx3.1 expression, and increase Bmp-4 levels. This results in phenotype X, which consists of branching deficiencies, hypomorphic growth, and mild epithelial differentiation defects. In the ventral lobe, estrogens permanently suppress Hoxb-13, transiently suppress Nkx3.1, and increase Bmp-4 expression postnatally. This leads to phenotype Y, which consists of severe differentiation defects and hypomorphic growth. In total, both common and unique phenotypes are proposed to result from differential regulation of key morphoregulatory genes by early estrogenic exposures.