Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 24, 2025

Heterokaryon Technique for Analysis of Cell Type-specific Localization
Published on: March 11, 2011
Androgen receptor nucleocytoplasmic trafficking - A one-way journey
Ryan N Cole1, Qinghua Fang1, Zhou Wang2
1Department of Urology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Abstract:
The androgen receptor (AR) is a key regulator of the growth and proliferation of prostate cancer. The majority of lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) growth is still dependent on AR activity. The AR need to be in the nucleus to exert its biological action as a transcription factor. As such, defining the mechanisms that regulate the subcellular localization of AR are important. Previously it was believed that AR was imported into the nucleus in a ligand-dependent manner and subsequently exported out of the nucleus upon ligand withdrawal. Recent evidence has challenged this decades-old paradigm and showed that the AR is degraded, not exported, in the nucleus. This review discusses the current understanding of how AR nucleocytoplasmic localization is regulated by import and through nuclear degradation.
Related Concept Videos
Nuclear Protein Sorting
Proteins targeted to the nucleus carry nuclear localization signals or NLS recognized by import receptors in the cytosol. Similarly, proteins with nuclear export signals are recognized by export receptors. Import and export receptors are...
Regulated mRNA Transport
Directionality of Nuclear Transport
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
Intracellular Hormone Receptors
Overview of Protein Sorting and Transport
Protein sorting can be of two types: signal-based sorting and vesicle-based trafficking. In signal-based sorting, specific amino acid sequences called sorting signals target proteins to the proper location inside the cell either via gated transport or by protein translocation. In gated transport, folded...

