Figure 3.

Aldo‐Keto reductase 1C2 (AKR1C2) expression in prostate cancer cell lines. (A) Expression of AKR1C2 protein shows a 37‐KDa band (arrow) in LNCaP, 22Rv1 and DU145 but not in PC‐3 cells. (B) After treatment with curcumin in LNCaP for 6 h, expression of AKR1C2 mRNA was dose‐dependently increased, approximately 170‐fold at 50 μmol/L compared with untreated cells. Values represents mean ± SEM (n = 5). All quantitation was undertaken after normalization to β‐actin. Statistical significance (**P < .01) was obtained for all cases of curcumin treatments (10 and 50 μmol/L) compared with the control (0 μmol/L). (C) Pathway of steroid metabolism in cells. Enzyme and genetic names are indicated. Steroid metabolism in the prostate tissue of transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) mouse may be very similar to the pathway of steroid metabolism in cells