Mechanisms of estrogen-induced cell proliferation
2014
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, USA
Estrogen is a key hormone for the normal development of mammary glands that stimulates epithelial proliferation. This activity of estrogen is thought to act through estrogen receptor alpha, which has been shown to be involved in estrogen-mediated proliferation both in normal and tumorigenic conditions. Recent findings also proposed G protein-coupled estrogen receptor to play a role in proliferation modulation in breast cancer cells, although the signalling mechanisms remain unclear. Here, human non-tumorigenic breast epithelial cells and human ex vivo breast tissue organotypic culture were used to investigate the mechanisms that link the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor to proliferation. The results showed that the activation of the receptor increased the proliferative status in both models. Moreover, through selective inhibition of signalling pathways, it was possible to identify several secondary messengers involved in the signalling cascade. Further confirmation of the involvement of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor was obtained by inhibiting the induction of proliferation by selectively inhibiting or knocking down G protein-coupled estrogen receptor. In this study, the researchers partially elucidate the involvement of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor and the mechanisms underlying this in normal and tumorigenic tissue in two different human models, opening the door to new potential therapeutic targets for breast cancer treatments.
GPER mediates estrogen-induced signaling and proliferation in human breast epithelial cells and normal and malignant breast
Helen J Hathaway
Added on: 10-11-2021
[1] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12672-014-0174-1#[2] https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset/ffebe454-ed9a-47cf-8a33-8cf70c1b7d38
