NKX3.1 (D6D2Z) Rabbit Monoclonal Antibody #92998

NKX3.1 is a homeobox transcription factor that in mammals plays a defining role in embryonic prostate morphogenesis. The expression of mammalian NKX3.1 is androgen-dependent, restricted primarily to developing and mature prostate epithelium, and is frequently reduced or lost in prostate cancer (1-3). The human NKX3.1 gene is located on chromsome 8p21.2, within a region that shows loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in >50% of prostate cancer cases (2). Allelic loss at the NKX3.1 locus is also common in high grade Prostate Intraepithelial Neoplasia (PIN), thought to be a putative precursor lesion to invasive prostate adenocarcinomas, suggesting that LOH at the NKX3.1 locus is a critical early step in prostate cancer development (4). Notably, the remaining NKX3.1 allele is intact in the majority of LOH cases, leading to the suggestion that NKX3.1 functions as a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor (4-6). Due to its highly restricted expression in prostate epithelial cells, NKX3.1 has been suggested as a diagnostic marker of prostate carcinoma (7), and may have additional utility as a biomarker of metastatic lesions originating in the prostate (8).