180 kb gene consisting of 8 exons

4,314 bp mRNA, 2,762 bp open reading frame

919 amino acids (NCBI: P10275), MW = 99,187.57 daltons; -1.5 charge with an isoelectric pt = 6.3797; 10.6 kb AR transcript (NCBI: NM_000044 - partial sequence): 1.1kb 5 Untranslated Region (UTR) followed by the 2.7 kb Open Reading Frame (ORF) followed by the 6.8kb 3 UTR.
AR: AR isoform 1 [Homo sapiens] NP_000035 920 aa
AR45: AR isoform 2 [Homo sapiens] NP_001011645 388 aa
The AR coding sequence contains variable poly-aminoacid repeats in the amino-terminal domain:
1. poly-glutamine (CAG: Glu-Q): avg 22 repeats with normal polymorphic range from 8 to 35, shorter (<18) associated with increased AR transactivation and prostate cancer risk. CAG repeats in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy patients range from 38 to 62.
2. poly-proline (Pro-P): avg 8.
3. poly-glycine (GGC: Gly-G): avg 23, with normal range from 10 to 31.

Embryonic tissue, prostate, testis, liver, eye, kidney, adrenal glands, thyroid, heart, breast/mammary gland, uterus, skeletal muscle, specific regions of the brain (CNS) including spinal and bulbar motor neurons.

Cytoplasm and nucleus

AR is a member of the steroid hormone receptor family of ligand-dependent nuclear receptors. AR functions include gene expression via actions as a DNA-binding transcription factor, cell cycle/proliferation regulation, cell-to-cell signaling, and intracellular signal transduction, leading to the regulation of biological processes such as development, cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Some of the main target genes transcriptionally regulated by AR include AR, prostate specific antigen (PSA/hKlk3), hKlk2, hKlk4, prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), cell cycle regulator p27, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), TMPRSS2, and Nkx3.1.
Prostate organogenesis: The presence of AR is required in the mesodermal-derived embryonic urogenital sinus mesenchyme to trigger branching morphogenesis of endodermal-derived epithelial cells in the presence of androgens; subsequent AR expression in the developing epithelium drives secretory protein production. AR also plays an important role in the development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics, spermatogenesis, hormonal regulation of sexual drive, muscle growth, and male patterning of the brain.
Recent identification of the gene fusion between the 5 end of the AR-regulated serine protease TMPRSS2 (21q22.2) and the 3 end of ETS family of transcription factors ETV1 (7p21.3) and ERG (21q22.3) in a large frequency of prostate cancer cases raises new questions regarding AR function in prostate cancer. The gene rearrangement is thought to result in AR-induced expression of the suspected ETV1 or ERG oncogenes.

zebrafish (Danio rerio), dog (Canis familiaris), African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), mouse (Mus musculus), chicken (Gallus gallus), rat (Rattus norvegicus), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
No similarity-to-human data found for AR for:
pig (Sus scrofa), cow (Bos taurus), fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), worm (Caenorhabditis elegans), bakers yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), tropical clawed frog (Silurana tropicalis), African malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae), thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), green algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii), soybean (Glycine max), barley (Hordeum vulgare), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea), rice (Oryza sativa), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), corn (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum aestivum), Alicante grape (Vitis vinifera), bread mold (Neurospora crassa), fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe), sea squirt (Ciona intestinalis), amoeba (Dictyostelium discoideum), A. gosspyii yeast (Ashbya gossypii), K. lactis yeast (Kluyveromyces lactis), medicago trunc (Medicago truncatula), malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum), schistosome parasite (Schistosoma mansoni), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii).

Germ-line loss of function mutations in AR result in non-lethal loss of AR expression, a hallmark of androgen insensitivity syndrome. Individuals with AIS have a Y chromosome and functional testes, which produce high levels of testosterone; however, they lack male sex accessory organs, such as seminal vesicles and prostate, and are thus phenotypically female in both behavior and appearance.

Various somatic AR mutations have been identified, some of which are associated with prostate cancer, including the T877A mutation in the prostate cancer LNCaP cell line, which permits AR activation by progestins, estrogen, adrenal androgens, and anti-androgen hydroxyflutamide; however, the overall frequency of AR mutations in early, primary prostate cancer is <10%.
Polymorphic CAG repeats in exon 1 encoding a polyglutamine tract of variable length give rise to AR peptides of varying lengths: Shorter length (fewer CAG repeats) is associated with increased prostate cancer risk; increased length (greater CAG repeats) is associated with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy and androgen insensitivity syndrome. For a more complete list of identified mutations, please visit http://androgendb.mcgill.ca/map.gif.