The phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of the mouse prostate epithelial cell lineages remains incompletely characterized. We show that the Sca‐1+ luminal cells at the mouse proximal prostate express Sox2. These cells are replicative quiescent, castration resistant, and do not possess secretory function. We use the Probasin‐CreERT2 and Sox2‐CreERT2 models in concert with a fluorescent reporter line to label the Sca‐1− and Sca‐1+ luminal cells, respectively. By a lineage tracing approach, we show that the two luminal cell populations are independently sustained. Sox2 is dispensable for the maintenance of the Sca‐1+ luminal cells but is essential for their facultative bipotent differentiation capacity. The Sca‐1+ luminal cells share molecular features with the human TACSTD2+ luminal cells. This study corroborates the heterogeneity of the mouse prostate luminal cell lineage and shows that the adult mouse prostate luminal cell lineage is maintained by distinct cellular entities rather than a single progenitor population.

中文翻译：

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Sca-1+ 和 Sca-1− 小鼠前列腺腔细胞谱系独立维持

小鼠前列腺上皮细胞谱系的表型和功能异质性仍未完全表征。我们表明小鼠近端前列腺的 Sca-1+ 管腔细胞表达 Sox2。这些细胞是复制静止的、抗阉割的，并且不具有分泌功能。我们使用 Probasin-CreERT2 和 Sox2-CreERT2 模型与荧光报告线协同分别标记 Sca-1- 和 Sca-1+ 腔细胞。通过谱系追踪方法，我们表明两个管腔细胞群是独立维持的。Sox2 对于 Sca-1+ 管腔细胞的维持是可有可无的，但对于它们的兼性双能分化能力是必不可少的。Sca-1+ 管腔细胞与人类 TACSTD2+ 管腔细胞共享分子特征。