Autoradiographic studies of androgen-binding sites in human benign prostatic hyperplasia in vitro

Steroid autoradiographic techniques were used to visualize the distribution of androgen receptor-positive cells in human benign prostatic hyperplasia grown in organ culture. The tissue consisted of alveoli embedded in dense fibromuscular stroma and lined either with one row of cuboidal secretory cells or with several layers of epithelial cells. In some explants alveoli were seen lined with spindle-shaped cells. The autoradiographs showed that in most explants both epithelium and stroma contained androgen receptor-positive cells but that the uptake was less pronounced in the stromal cells. In alveoli lined with several cell layers the basal cells seemed to incorporate less androgen than secretory cells on the luminal side. In alveoli lined with spindle-shaped cells, these were always androgen receptor-negative.