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Androgen Receptor

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

Synonyms

AR; Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS); Dihydrotestosterone receptor; HUMARA; Kennedy disease (KD); NR3C4; SMAX1; Spinal and bulber muscular atrophy (SBMA); Testicular feminization (TFM)

Definition

The androgen receptor or AR is a member of the steroid/thyroid receptor superfamily, in which all members share basic structural and functional homology. The AR is an intracellular ligand (androgen)-dependent transcription factor, which regulates the expression of genes that control cell proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and differentiation in many hormonally regulated tissues including the prostate. It is an important regulator of male sexual differentiation and maturation.

Characteristics

The biological function of androgen is mediated through the AR. Except for the spleen and bone marrow, the AR is ubiquitously expressed in human organs. The human AR gene is more than 90-kb long and is present as a single allele located at chromosome Xq11.2–12. It has eight exons and...

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References

  • Debes JD, Tindall DJ (2004) Mechanisms of androgen-refractory prostate cancer. N Engl J Med 351:1488–1490

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  • MacLean HE, Warne GL, Zajac JD (1997) Localization of functional domains in the androgen receptor. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 62:233–242

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology Research, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA

    Kaustubh Datta & Donald J. Tindall

Authors
  1. Kaustubh Datta
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  2. Donald J. Tindall
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kaustubh Datta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Datta, K., Tindall, D.J. (2014). Androgen Receptor. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_266-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_266-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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