Journal of Andrology
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Published-Ahead-of-Print August 26, 2010, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.110.011205

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Castration- and Aging-induced Changes in the Expression of Zinc Transporter and Metallothionein in Rat Prostate

Kazuhiro Iguchi , Naoaki Morihara , Shigeyuki Usui , Minoru Hayama , Yoshiki Sugimura , and Kazuyuki Hirano *

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hirano{at}gifu-pu.ac.jp.

Prostate tissue contains high concentrations of zinc. Zinc content in the prostate gland changes in prostatic disease such as benign prostate hyperplasia and prostate cancer, which occur more frequently with increasing age. Prostate zinc content is also known to decrease after castration in animal models. It is not clear how prostate zinc content is regulated; therefore, to clarify the mechanisms underlying zinc homeostasis, we examined zinc content and the expression of zinc transporters and metallothioneins in the prostates of aged or castrated rats. Zinc concentration was measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The mRNA expression of zinc transporters and metallothioneins was determined by real-time RT-PCR analysis. The expression of the zinc transporter Slc30a2 (Znt2) in ventral prostate (VP) of aged rats (21 months) was approximately 21-fold higher than that in VP of young rats (4 months), and there was a significant increase in zinc levels in VP of young rats than in VP of aged rats. Zinc contents in lateral prostate (LP) and dorsal prostate (DP) did not differ between young and aged rats. Decreased metallothionein-3 (Mt3) expression was observed in LP of castrated rats, and this reduction was prevented by testosterone replacement. There was a significant correlation between zinc contents and Mt3 expression levels in rat LP. Our findings suggest that Mt3 may play a critical role in zinc homeostasis in rat LP.


Key words: Prostate • Metallothionein • Zinc • Zinc transporter






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