Roles for Nkx3.1 (ital) in prostate development and cancer

The mouse Nkx3.1 (ital) homeobox gene has roles in prostate development and in cancer. This gene is the earliest known marker of prostate epithelium in embryogenesis and is expressed after that at all stages of prostate differentiation in vivo and in tissue recombinants. NKX3.1 (ital) may be a prostate-specific tumor suppressor gene. Loss a single allele may constitute a predisposition to carcinogenesis in the prostate.