ERα-36 is a novel subtype of estrogen receptor α which promotes tumor cell proliferation, invasion and drug resistance, and it serves as a therapeutic target. However, only small-molecule compounds targeting ERα-36 are under development as anticancer drugs at present. Gene therapy approach targeting ERα-36 can be explored using recombinant adenovirus armed with decoy receptor. The recombinant shuttle plasmid pDC316-Ig κ-ERα-36-Fc-GFP was constructed via genetic engineering to express an Ig κ-signaling peptide-leading secretory recombinant fusion protein ERα-36-Fc. The recombinant adenovirus Ad-ERα-36-Fc-GFP was subsequently packaged, characterized and amplified using AdMax^TM adenovirus packaging system. The expression of fusion protein and functional outcome of Ad-ERα-36-Fc-GFP transduction were further analyzed with triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. Results showed that the recombinant adenovirus Ad-ERα-36-Fc-GFP was successfully generated. The virus effectively infected MDA-MB-231 cells which resulted in expression and secretion of the recombinant fusion protein ERα-36-Fc, leading to significant inhibition of EGFR/ERK signaling pathway. Preparation of the recombinant adenovirus Ad-ERα-36-Fc-GFP provides a basis for further investigation on cancer gene therapy targeting ERα-36.
Adenoviridae/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation ; Estrogen Receptor alpha/metabolism* ; Recombinant Proteins ; Transfection

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is involved in numerous biologic events and associates with transcriptional gene silencing, playing an important role in the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer. ESR1/PGR frequently undergoes de novo methylation and loss expression in a wide variety of tumors, including breast, colon, lung, and brain tumors. However, the mechanisms underlying estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) loss in endometrial cancer have not been studied extensively. The aims of this study were to determine the expression of DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 3A/3B (DNMT3A/3B) in endometrial cancer to investigate whether the methylation catalyzed by DNMT3A/3B contributes to low ER/PR expression. METHODS: The clinicopathologic information and RNA-Seq expression data of DNMT3A/3B of 544 endometrial cancers were derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) uterine cancer cohort in May 2018. RNA-Seq level of DNMT3A/3B was compared between these clinicopathologic factors with t-test or one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: DNMT3A/3B was overexpressed in endometrioid carcinoma (EEC) and was even higher in non-endometrioid carcinoma (NEEC) (DNMT3A, EEC vs. NEEC: 37.6% vs. 69.9%, t = -7.440, P < 0.001; DNMT3B, EEC vs. NEEC: 42.4% vs. 72.8%, t = -6.897, P < 0.001). In EEC, DNMT3A overexpression was significantly correlated with the hypermethylation and low expression of the ESR1 and PGR (P < 0.05). The same trend was observed in the DNMT3B overexpression subgroup. In the ESR1/PGR low-expression subgroups, as much as 83.1% of ESR1 and 59.5% of PGR were hypermethylated, which was significantly greater than the ESR1/PGR high-expression subgroups (31.3% and 11.9%, respectively). However, the above phenomena were absent in NEEC, while DNMT3A/3B overexpression, ESR1/PGR hypermethylation, and low ER/PR expression occurred much more often. In univariate analysis, DNMT3A/3B overexpressions were significantly correlated with worse prognosis. In multivariate analysis, only DNMT3A was an independent predictor of disease-free survival (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS DNMT3A/3B expression increases progressively from EEC to NEEC and is correlated with poor survival. The mechanisms underlying low ER/PR expression might be distinct in EEC vs. NEEC. In EEC, methylation related to DNMT3A/3B overexpression might play a major role in ER/PR downregulation.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA Methylation ; genetics ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Xiaoaiping shows a pharmacological activity in treatment of breast cancer. Although neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been more and more widely used in treatment of breast cancer in recent years, no report has been made about the clinical efficacy and mechanism of the combined application of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and Xiaoaiping in treatment of breast cancer. In this study, 66 patients with breast cancer were selected and divided into the control group and the treatment group evenly with the random number table method. All patients received TEC neoadjuvant chemotherapy. On that basis, the treatment group also received the adjuvant therapy of Xiaoaiping injection (60 mL, i. v. , qd). The short-term response rate and the follow-up survival rate of the two groups were observed and compared. Surgical specimens of the patient were collected to observe and compare their expressions of estrogen receptor ER-&alpha;36 in breast cancer tissues with the immunohistochemical method. According to the findings, the overall response rate of the treatment group was 78.79%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (57.58% , χ2 = 5.48, P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the treatment group showed significant increases in the disease-free survival (DFS) rate and the total survival rate at the 3rd year and 5th year (all P < 0.05) , and a notable reduction in ER-&alpha;36 expression in breast cancer tissues (P < 0.05). Based on the our results, Xiaoaiping can significantly enhance short-term ad long-term efficacies of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Its mechanism may be correlated with the inhibition of ER-&alpha; 36 expression in breast cancer tissues.
Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; mortality ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the estrogenic activity of icariin and genistein with estrogen-dependent human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells.

METHODMCF-7 cells were incubated with media containing 5% charcoal dextran-treated FBS in phenol red-free media for 48 h. CCK-8 kit was used to study the impact of defferent concentration of icariin and genistein on MCF-7 proliferation in vitro. Optimal concentration icariin and genistein were added into medium and total RNA was isolated after 12, 24, 36, 48 h. The gene expression of ERalpha, ERbeta, PS2, and PR were investigated by Real-time RT-PCR Total protein was also isolated and secretion of ERalpha, ERbeta, PS2, and PR were examined by Western blot.

RESULT10 micromol x L(-1) icariin and genistein could promote the proliferation of MCF-7 evidently. However, the ability of genistein to promote the proliferation was better than icariin. With the concentration of 10 micromol x L(-1), genistein group had a stronger expression of ERa, PS2 and PR mRNA levels than icariin while ERbetaexpression had no significant difference in two group. The same effects were detected by western blotting.

CONCLUSIONBoth genistein and icariin have a strong estrogen-like effect, but the estrogenic activity of genistein is stronger than icariin. It showed that the activity of icariin is stron-ger than genistein to promote ROB maturation. So it must be that icariin promotes the maturation of osteoblasts in vitro by a estogen-independent mechanism.

Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Estrogen Receptor beta ; genetics ; metabolism ; Estrogens ; pharmacology ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Genistein ; pharmacology ; Humans ; MCF-7 Cells ; Osteoblasts ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Presenilin-2 ; metabolism

Abnormal proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) plays an important role in several pathological processes of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, the effects of XCT790, a potent and selective inverse agonist of estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRalpha), on rat VSMCs proliferation and related signal pathways were investigated. The proliferative activity of VSMCs was determined by CCK-8 assay. The mRNA levels of ERRalpha, PGC-1alpha, OPN and MCAD were assayed by RT-PCR. The protein levels of ERRalpha, ERK2 and p-ERK1/2 were evaluated by Western blotting. ELISA was used to assess the protein expression of VEGF. The results showed that XCT790 (5-20 micromol x L(-1)) inhibited rat VSMCs proliferation, and the expression of ERRalpha and its target genes, as well as p-ERK1/2, were also inhibited. XCT790 inhibited VSMCs proliferation in a dose-dependent manner at the dose range from 5 to 20 micromol x L(-1) and in a time-dependent manner at the dose range from 10 to 20 micromol x L(-1). These findings demonstrate that XCT790 inhibits rat VSMCs proliferation by down-regulating the gene level of ERRalpha and thus inhibiting the ERK signal pathway, suggesting that ERRalpha may be a novel potential target for therapeutic approaches to inhibit VSMCs proliferation, which plays an important role in several cardiovascular diseases.
Animals ; Cadherins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; GTPase-Activating Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; cytology ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Nitriles ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha ; Phosphorylation ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Estrogen ; genetics ; metabolism ; Thiazoles ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; metabolism

The temporal expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha and ER-beta mRNA was examined in male Japanese quails. Femurs of quails receiving 17beta-estradiol underwent RTPCR and histochemical analysis 1 to 15 days after treatment. Untreated quails were used as controls (day 0). Between days 0 and 5, cells lining the bone endosteal surface differentiated into osteoblasts, which in turn formed medullary bone. Expression of ER-alpha was already observed on day 0 and increased slightly during bone formation whereas ER-beta was hardly detected throughout this process. After osteoclasts appeared on the medullary bone surface, this type of bone disappeared from the bone marrow cavity (days 7~15). ER-alpha expression simultaneously decreased slightly and ER-beta levels remained very low. These results suggest that estrogen activity mediated by ER-alpha not only affects medullary bone formation but also bone resorption.
Animals ; Bone Resorption/genetics ; Bone and Bones/chemistry/cytology/*metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Coturnix/*metabolism ; Estradiol/*pharmacology ; Estrogen Receptor alpha/genetics/*metabolism ; Estrogen Receptor beta/genetics/*metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Male ; Osteoblasts/chemistry/cytology/*metabolism ; Osteogenesis/genetics ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; ethnology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; CpG Islands ; genetics ; DNA Methylation ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Uterine Cervicitis ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology

Estrogen participates in many life activities through combination with estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) or estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) in the body. In order to establish an in vitro estrogen-like compound screening model, the coding region of human ERalpha and ERbeta was separately constructed into pET32-ERalpha and pET43-ERbeta prokaryotic expression vector and water-soluble recombinant ERalpha and ERbeta proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21. Western blotting revealed that both recombinant proteins have estrogen receptor binding sites. The proteins were purified using S-Tag affinity Purification Kit and digested with enterokinase to get the ERalpha and ERbeta proteins. About 0.90 mg of ERalpha and 0.65 mg of ERbeta were obtained at the concentration of 0.181 and 0.131 mg x mL(-1), respectively.
Binding Sites ; Escherichia coli ; metabolism ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Estrogen Receptor beta ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Protein Binding ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo detect the estrogenic activity of genistein and apigenin with ER-positive cell line MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

METHODMTT method was adopted to study the impact of genistein and apigenin on MCF-7 proliferation in vitro. Real-time RT-PCR method was used to detect their impact on ERalpha, ERbeta, PR and PS2 mRNA expression levels.

RESULTGenistein and apigenin promoted the proliferation of MCF-7. Genistein 1 x 10(-10) mol x L(-1) group showed a significant increase in the expression of ERa mRNA levels or a 17. 76 times more than the control group and a 1.75 times more than the E2 group. Apigenin notably promoted the PR mRNA expression or a 4. 57 times more than the control group and a 1.11 times more than the E2 group. Both of them had different effect in promoting ERalpha, ERbeta, PR or PS2 mRNA.

CONCLUSIONBoth genistein and apigenin have a strong estrogen-like effect. Although they have different effect in promoting estrogenic response genes (such as ERa, ERbeta, PR and PS2 mRNA), genistein shows a stronger activity than apigenin. It also suggests that the signaling pathways of phytoestrogens showing estrogen-like effect are not completely identical with estrogen pathways. The B-cycle position of flavonoids is one of the key sites to estrogen-like activity, and isoflavones (cycle B on site 3) show stronger estrogen-like activity than flavones (B-cycle lies in site 2).

Apigenin ; pharmacology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Estrogen Receptor beta ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Genistein ; pharmacology ; Humans ; MCF-7 Cells ; Phytoestrogens ; pharmacology ; Presenilin-2 ; genetics ; metabolism

ER&alpha;36 is a novel subtype of estrogen receptor alpha (ER&alpha;) known to play an important role in breast cancer development and widely expressed in normal tissues and cells including nerve cells. However, the expression and function of ER&alpha;36 in nerve cells have not been well elucidated. To examine whether ER&alpha;36 is involved in differentiation of nerve cells, the differentiated and undifferentiated PC12 (PC12D and PC12unD) cells were used. Transfection of ER&alpha;36-shRNA plasmid into PC12 cells was performed to establish the ER&alpha;36 gene knock-down cells model. Immunocytofluorescence and Western blot were used to analyze the expression of Nestin, β-tubulinIII and Neu-N in the PC12 cells. The results showed that ER&alpha;36 was expressed in both cell types. Compared with PC12D cells, PC12unD cells showed higher expression of Nestin and lower expression of β-tubulinIII. ER&alpha;36-shRNA-mediated knock-down of ER&alpha;36 expression enhanced the expression of β-tubulinIII and Neu-N, but attenuated Nestin expressions in PC12unD cells; ER&alpha;36 knock-down in PC12D cells mediated Nestin, β-tubulinIII and Neu-N in a contrary manner. These results indicate that ER&alpha;36 knock-down appear to be associated with inhibiting differentiation in differentiated cells and promoting differentiation in undifferentiated cells, suggesting that ER&alpha;36 is a dual regulator in nerve differentiation.
Animals ; Antigens, Nuclear ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; metabolism ; Nestin ; metabolism ; Neurons ; cytology ; metabolism ; PC12 Cells ; Rats ; Transfection ; Tubulin ; metabolism