Background: Breast cancer cells with tumor-initiating capabilities (BSCs) are considered to maintain tumor growth and govern metastasis. Hence, targeting BSCs will be crucial to achieve successful treatment of breast cancer.
Methods: We characterized mammospheres derived from more than 40 cancer patients and two breast cancer cell lines for the expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) and stem cell markers.
Methods Mol Biol
August 2016
Molecular signaling through both estrogen and microRNAs are critical for breast cancer development and growth. The activity of estrogen is mediated by transcription factors, the estrogen receptors. Here we describe a method for robust characterization of estrogen-regulated microRNA profiles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEstrogen plays vital roles in mammary gland development and breast cancer progression. It mediates its function by binding to and activating the estrogen receptors (ERs), ERα, and ERβ. ERα is frequently upregulated in breast cancer and drives the proliferation of breast cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) are abundant in our environment. A number of EDCs, including bisphenol A (BPA) can bind to the estrogen receptors (ER), ERα and ERβ, and may contribute to estrogen-linked diseases such as breast cancer. Early exposure is of particular concern; many EDCs cross the placenta and infants have measurable levels of, eg, BPA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) in breast cancer identifies patients most likely to respond to endocrine treatment. The second ER, ERβ, is also expressed in breast tumors, but its function and therapeutic potential need further study. Although in vitro studies have established that ERβ opposes transcriptional and proliferative functions of ERα, several clinical studies report its correlation with proliferative markers and poorer prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating immune-mediated central nervous system disease characterized by increasing female penetrance, is the leading cause of disability in young adults in the developed world. Epidemiological data strongly implicate an environmental factor, acting at the population level during gestation, in the increasing incidence of female MS observed over the last 50 years, yet the identity of this factor remains unknown. Gestational exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics since the 1950s, has been reported to alter a variety of physiological processes in adulthood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with the basal-like breast cancer phenotypes. 60% of basal-like cancers have been shown to express wild-type estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta1). However, it is still unclear whether the ERbeta expression is related to EMT, invasion and metastasis in breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroRNAs (miRNAs) play pivotal roles in stem cell biology, differentiation and oncogenesis and are of high interest as potential breast cancer therapeutics. However, their expression and function during normal mammary differentiation and in breast cancer remain to be elucidated. In order to identify which miRNAs are involved in mammary differentiation, we thoroughly investigated miRNA expression during functional differentiation of undifferentiated, stem cell-like, murine mammary cells using two different large-scale approaches followed by qPCR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
February 2012
Breast cancers are sensitive to hormones such as estrogen, which binds to and activates estrogen receptors (ER) leading to significant changes in gene expression. microRNAs (miRNA) have emerged as a major player in gene regulation, thus identification of miRNAs associated with normal or disrupted estrogen signaling is critical to enhancing our understanding of the diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer. We have previously shown that 17β-estradiol (E2) induced activation of ERα in T47D cells results in significant changes in the expression of protein-coding genes involved in cell cycle, proliferation, and apoptosis.
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