The regulation of estrogen receptor expression and function in human breast cancer

Estrodiol-17β and aromatase inhibitor treatment induced alternations of genome-wide DNA methylation pattern in Takifugu rubripes gonads

Estradiol-17β (E2) and aromatase inhibitor (AI) exposure can change the phenotypic sex of fish gonads. To investigated whether alterations in DNA methylation is involved in this process, the level of genome-wide DNA methylation in Takifugu rubripes gonads was quantitatively analyzed during the E2-induced feminization and AI-induced masculinization processes in this study. The methylation levels of the total cytosine (C) in control-XX(C-XX), control-XY (C-XY), E2-treated-XY (E-XY) and AI-treated-XX (AI-XX) were 9.11%, 9.19%, 8.63% and 9.23%, respectively. In the C-XX vs C-XY comparison, 4,196 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) overlapped with the gene body of 2,497 genes and 608 DMRs overlapped with the promoter of 575 genes. In the E-XY vs C-XY comparison, 6,539 DMRs overlapped with the gene body of 3,416 genes and 856 DMRs overlapped with the promoter of 776 genes. In the AI-XX vs C-XX comparison, 2,843 DMRs overlapped with the gene body of 1,831 genes and 461 DMRs overlapped with the promoter of 421 genes. Gonadal genomic methylation mainly occurred at CG sites and the genes that overlapped with DMRs on CG context were most enriched in the signaling pathways related to gonad differentiation, such as the Wnt, TGF-β, MAPK, CAM and GnRH pathways. The DNA methylation levels of steroid synthesis genes and estrogen receptor genes promoter or gene body were negative correlated with their expression. After bisulfite sequencing verification, the DNA methylation level of the amhr2 promoter in XY was increased after E2 treatment, which consistent with the data from the genome-wide DNA methylation sequencing. In C-XY group, the expression of amhr2 was significantly higher than that in E-XY (p < 0.05). Additionally, dnmt1, which is responsible for methylation maintenance, expressed at similar level in four groups (p > 0.05). dnmt3, tet2, and setd1b, which were responsible for methylation modification, expressed at significantly higher levels in E-XY compared to the C-XY (p < 0.05). Dnmt3 and tet2 were expressed at significantly higher levels in AI-XX than that in C-XX (p < 0.05). These results indicated that E2 and AI treatment lead to the aberrant genome-wide DNA methylation level and expression level of dnmt3, tet2, and setd1b in T. rubripes gonad.

The transcription factor snail mediates epithelial to mesenchymal transitions by repression of estrogen receptor-alpha

The estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha (ESR1) is a key regulatory molecule in mammary epithelial cell development. Loss of ER-alpha in breast cancer is correlated with poor prognosis, increased recurrence after treatment, and an elevated incidence of metastasis. A proposed molecular pathway by which ER-alpha acts to constrain invasive growth in breast cancer cells involves direct, ER-alpha-dependent expression of metastasis-associated protein 3, a cell-type-specific component of the Mi-2/NuRD chromatin remodeling complex. MTA3 in turn represses expression of Snail, a transcription factor linked to epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cancer metastasis. To elucidate its role(s) in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), we expressed Snail in the noninvasive, ER-alpha-positive MCF-7 cell line. Snail expression led to decreased cell-cell adhesion and increased cell invasiveness. Furthermore, we observed loss of ER-alpha expression at both the RNA and protein level that was accompanied by direct interaction of Snail with regulatory DNA sequences at the ESR1 locus. A consequence of loss of ER-alpha function in this system was the increased abundance of key components of the TGF-beta signaling pathway. Thus, cross-talk among ER-alpha, Snail, and the TGF-beta pathway appears to control critical phenotypic properties of breast cancer cells.

Molecular identification of ERalpha-positive breast cancer cells by the expression profile of an intrinsic set of estrogen regulated genes

Estrogens exert a key biological role in mammary gland epithelial cells and promote breast carcinogenesis and tumor progression. We recently identified a new large set of estrogen responsive genes from breast cancer (BC) cells by DNA microarray analysis of the gene expression profiles induced by 17beta-estradiol in ZR-75.1 and MCF-7 cells. The purpose of the present study was to test whether the expression pattern of hormone regulated genes from this set identifies estrogen receptor (ERalpha) positive, hormone responsive BC cells. To this aim, we carried out in silico metanalysis of ERalpha positive and ERalpha negative human BC cell line transcriptomes, focusing on two sets of 171 and 218 estrogen responsive genes, respectively. Results show that estrogen dependent gene activity in hormone responsive BC cells is significantly different from that of non-responsive cells and, alone, allows to discriminate these two cellular phenotypes. Indeed, we have identified 61 genes whose expression profile specifically marks ERalpha positive BC cells, suggesting that this gene set may be exploited for phenotypic characterization of breast tumors. This possibility was tested with data obtained by gene expression profiling of BC surgical samples, where the ERalpha positive phenotypes were highlighted by the expression profile of a subset of 27 such hormone responsive genes and four additional BC marker genes, not including ERs. These results provide direct evidence that the expression pattern of a limited number of estrogen responsive genes can be exploited to assess the estrogen signaling status of BC cells both in vitro and ex-vivo.

Phenotypic differentiation of human breast cancer cells by 1,3 cyclic propanediol phosphate

Breast cancer cells in their virulent undifferentiated state are characterized by lack of functional estrogen receptors (ER) and/or progesterone receptors (PR) as well as relatively low levels of other normal differentiation markers such as milk proteins and lipid droplets. To date, no method for in situ elevation of the state of differentiation of breast cancer cells has yet been proven effective in patients. We have recently shown that 1,3 cyclic propanediol phosphate (1,3 cPP), an analog of 1,3 cyclic glycerophosphate (1,3 cGP), can promote morphological, neuronal-like differentiation in pheochromocytoma-12 cells in vitro. In view of this observation, we tested the potential of 1,3 cPP to elevate the state of cellular differentiation of the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 (ER(+)) and HCC1954 (ER(-)), as characterized by the expression of steroid receptors, casein kinase, lipid droplet histology and signal-transduction gene profiles. In the range of 5-100 microM 1,3 cPP the in vitro expression of ER-alpha, PR and casein kinase increased by approximately 2-fold while the mRNA transcription increased by 2-6-fold. Moreover, following 9-12 days of incubation with 1,3 cPP, HCC1954 cells exhibited a significant increase in the production of lipid droplets as observed by Oil Red O staining. The in vivo effect of 1,3 PP on MCF-7 xenografted into nude mice was also determined. After 4 biweekly i.p. injections of 0.5 mg 1,3 cPP per mouse, tumors in the 1,3 cPP treated virtually did not grow at all while the tumors in the control group grew rapidly. Based on these findings, we propose that this novel differentiating compound has the potential to transform the malignant tumor phenotype into a near-normal phenotype, as well as to sensitize the tumor cells to anti-estrogen therapy via upgrading the status of steroid hormone receptors.

Synthesis and estrogen receptor binding affinity of a porphyrin-estradiol conjugate for targeted photodynamic therapy of cancer

A tetraphenylporphyrin-C11-beta-estradiol conjugate has been synthesized. Competitive binding assay of the conjugate with estrogen receptor (ER)-ligand-binding domain showed that the conjugate binds specifically to the protein with high affinity. Potential use of this conjugate to selectively deliver cytotoxic porphyrins to ER-positive cells in various carcinomas is discussed.