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Updated: May 18, 2026

Murine Prostate Micro-dissection and Surgical Castration
Published on: May 11, 2016
Sonic Hedgehog pathway activity in prostate cancer
Olga Bragina1, Natalja Njunkova, Svetlana Sergejeva
1Department of Oncology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Technomedicum, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia.
Abstract:
Abnormal activation of the Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway has been demonstrated in a number of human tumors, including prostate cancer. The study aimed to assess the activity of Shh pathway components (Shh, Gli1, Gli2 and Gli3), as well as the proliferation markers FoxA1 and Notch1 during cancer progression in the transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP). We evaluated changes in respective proteins by immunohistochemistry at three time points (12, 17 and 21 weeks of age) in the tissue of TRAMP and C57Bl/6 mice. Moreover, the expression of mRNA of these proteins was assessed. The present study shows a significant age-dependent increase in the number of Shh, Gli1, Gli3 and FoxA1-positive prostate cells and a decrease in Gli2-positive cells in TRAMP. The study also supports the hypothesis that the development of prostate cancer and its metastasis is associated with activation of the Shh signaling pathway.
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