Hormonal modulation of prostatic growth and contractility [ 2000 - 2002 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Dr John Haynes (Principal investigator) ,  Prof Henryk Majewski

Brief description With increasing age human males are likely to develop benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a disorder characterized by urethral obstruction due to an increase in size of the prostate gland. Drug treatments of this condition are not entirely satisfactory and the current project is to examine the mechanisms by which the prostate grows and occludes the urethra. We will use human prostate cells grown in artificial conditions to determine which hormones alter the types of cells and especially examine those cells which can contract as these may be of critical importance in the urethral obstruction. We hypothesize that an enzyme called protein kinase C may be implicitly involved in both cell growth and contractile function and we will examine the role of protein kinase C with a view ultimately to develop drugs which may interfere with this process and therefore aid in non-surgical treatment of the condition.

Funding Amount $AUD 324,237.43

Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants

Notes Standard Project Grant