Estrogen receptor beta expression in human prostate tissue.

Estrogen receptor subtype beta (ERbeta) is highly expressed in rat prostate epithelium, but its presence in human prostate needs to be confirmed. Here we investigated the expression of ERbeta in five benign (normal and/or hyperplastic) and 10 malignant (Gleasons' score 2-7) prostate tissue specimens using immunohistochemistry. Immunohistochemistry was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections, using a commercially available ERbeta polyclonal antibody developed against the C-terminal amino acid residue. Nuclear ERbeta expression was found in the nuclei of glandular epithelium of benign prostate tissue specimens; faint nuclear ERbeta positivity was also present in a few stromal cells around normal epithelium. Nuclear ERbeta specific immunostaining was undetectable in all prostate cancer sections.