Encyclopedia of Cancer

Living Edition
| Editors: Manfred Schwab

Androgen Receptor

  • Kaustubh Datta
  • Donald J. Tindall
Living reference work entry
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_266-4
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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...

Keywords

Prostate Cancer Androgen Receptor Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Span Amino Acid Androgen Ablation Therapy 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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References

  1. Debes JD, Tindall DJ (2004) Mechanisms of androgen-refractory prostate cancer. N Engl J Med 351:1488–1490CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  2. Dehm SM, Tindall DJ (2006) Molecular regulation of androgen action in prostate cancer. J Cell Biochem 99:333–344CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Heinlein CA, Chang C (2004) Androgen receptor in prostate cancer. Endocr Rev 25:276–308CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. MacLean HE, Warne GL, Zajac JD (1997) Localization of functional domains in the androgen receptor. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 62:233–242CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  5. Shen HC, Coetzee GA (2005) The androgen receptor: unlocking the secrets of its unique transactivation domain. Vitam Horm 71:301–319CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Urology Research, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMayo Clinic College of MedicineRochesterUSA