TMPRSS2是原癌基因，编码蛋白是一种跨膜丝氨酸蛋白酶，其作用是裂解上皮细胞中的底物。TMPRSS2在前列腺上皮中高表达，是雄激素应答基因。TMPRSS2能裂解肿瘤微环境的组分，如促肝细胞生长因子（HGF），进而促进肿瘤的侵袭和转移。在约50%的原发性前列腺癌中，TMPRSS2常ETS家族转录因子发生融合，包括TMPRSS2-ERG和TMPRSS2-ETV1，导致ETS家族成员的过表达。TMPRSS2基因融合在前列腺癌中常伴随发生在PTEN丢失和随后的PI3激酶通路激活。

TMPRSS2 is a transmembrane serine protease that functions to cleave substrates in epithelial cells. Although its role in normal epithelial cells is not well understood, TMPRSS2 is highly expressed in the prostate epithelium and is an androgen responsive gene. TMPRSS2 can cleave components of the tumor microenvironment, such as pro-HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) to promote invasion and metastasis. TMPRSS2 is recurrently fused to ETS-family transcription factors in about 50% of primary prostate cancers, including the TMPRSS2-ERG and TMPRSS2-ETV1 fusions, resulting in overexpression of these ETS family members. TMPRSS2 gene fusions in prostate cancer often occur in the setting of PTEN loss and subsequent PI3-kinase pathway activation. In these cancers, ETS transcription factors modify the chromatin landscape of prostate cancer cells, allowing for increased androgen receptor (AR) binding and priming prostate cancer initiation in response to PTEN loss.

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