Overexpression of estrogen receptor beta alleviates the toxic effects of beta-amyloid protein on PC12 cells via non-hormonal ligands.

After binding to the estrogen receptor, estrogen can alleviate the toxic effects of beta-amyloid protein, and thereby exert a therapeutic effect on Alzheimer's disease patients. Estrogen can increase the incidence of breast carcinoma and endometrial cancer in post-menopausal women, so it is not suitable for clinical treatment of Alzheimer's disease. There is recent evidence that the estrogen receptor can exert its neuroprotective effects without estrogen dependence. Real-time quantitative PCR and flow cytometry results showed that, compared with non-transfected PC12 cells, adenovirus-mediated estrogen receptor β gene-transfected PC12 cells exhibited lower expression of tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 1β under stimulation with beta-amyloid protein and stronger protection from apoptosis. The Akt-specific inhibitor Abi-2 decreased the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of estrogen receptor β gene-transfection. These findings suggest that overexpression of estrogen receptor β can alleviate the toxic effect of beta-amyloid protein on PC12 cells, without estrogen dependence. The Akt pathway is one of the potential means for the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of the estrogen receptor.