Retinoic acid binding protein in normal and neopolastic rat prostate

Sucrose density gradient analysis of cytosol from normal and neoplastic rat prostatic tissues exhibited a peak of (3H) retinoic acid binding in the 2S region, corresponding to the cytoplasmic retinoic acid binding protein (cRABP). In the Fisher-Copenhagen F1 rat, cRABP was present in the lateral lobe, but could not be detected in the ventral nor in the dorsal prostatic lobes. Four sublines of the R-3327 rat prostatic tumor contained similar levels of this binding protein. The absence of cRABP in the normal tissue of origin of the R-3327 tumor, the rat dorsal prostate, and reappearance in the neoplastic tissues follows a pattern described in other human and animal tumors. The occurrence of cRABP in the well-differentiated as well as in the anaplastic R-3327 tumors in which markers which reflect a state of differentiation and hormonal regulation, such as androgen receptor, 5 alpha reductase, and secretory acid phosphatase are either markedly reduced or absent, points to cRABP as a marker of malignant transformation.