MAWA Research Grant
Protein Kinase C and the development of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Dr J.M. Haynes, Prostate Research Group, Department of Medical Laboratory Science, RMIT University, Melbourne.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia leading to urinary difficulties is a major problem in men over the age of 60 years. Understanding of the mechanisms that regulate human prostatic growth is sparse. Dr Haynes was awarded $16,530 for research into prostate problems using human prostatic tissue.
The prostate is a muscular gland present in all men; it sits below the bladder, surrounding the urethra. As men get older the prostate may increase in size, resulting in difficulties urinating due to the occlusion (closing) of the urethra. Compounding the effects of increased prostate mass, the prostatic smooth muscle will contract, leading to further occlusion of the urethra. The only causal factors in the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are age and sex hormones (mainly androgens). Animal models have been used to investigate prostate function but have provided little toward the development of novel therapeutic strategies to combat BPH, largely because the aetiology of the disease is unknown. This study investigated the role of intracellular enzymes in modulating human prostatic tissue function. The methodologies required to culture human prostatic cells in this laboratory were previously developed to identify factors regulating prostatic cell growth and contractility (muscle contraction). The use of human tissue in investigating an almost exclusively human disease should enable the rapid development of new strategies to treat this condition.