Figure 2.

Androgen receptor (AR) expression in prostatic cell types during development. Prostatic development is initiated with development of a urogenital sinus (UGS), followed by extension of prostatic buds forming an immature prostate gland. The adult prostate gland contains fully differentiated stromal and epithelial compartments which form a mature and functional organ. AR is initially expressed in just a proportion of the urogenital sinus mesenchyme (UGM). Epithelial cells gain AR expression throughout development. While only a subset of stromal cells (e.g. fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells) maintain AR expression in the adult prostate, virtually all luminal epithelial cells express AR.