The induction of prostatic hypertrophy in the dog with androstanediol

The effects of androstanediol and estradiol on prostatic growth were investigated in castrate dogs. Estrogens along resulted in no significant change in prostatic weight, whereas androstanediol produced growth comparable to that in uncastrated controls. Androstanediol plus estradiol resulted in an even more striking increase in prostate growth. Approximately half the animals receiving androstanediol alone and all of those receiving androstanediol plus estradiol fulfill the weight and histological criteria for prostatic hypertrophy in the dog. Since both these steroid hormones are presumed to be normal secretory products of the testis, it is possible that they are involved in the pathogenesis of prostatic hypertrophy in the dog.

Monoclonal antibodies to human estrogen receptor

Extranuclear estrogen receptor protein (estrophilin) of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells was purified by passage of the cytosol fraction of a cell homogenate through an affinity column of estradiol linked to Sepharose by a substituted di-n-propyl sulfide bridge in the 17 alpha position. Elution with 50 micro M [3H]estradiol in 10% (vol/vol) dimethyl formamide/0.5 M sodium thiocyanate gave 40% recovery of [3H]estradiol-estrophilin showing 14% of the specific radioactivity expected for the pure complex. Serum from a Lewis rat immunized with this partially purified estradiol-receptor complex contained antiestrophilin antibodies that reacted not only with nuclear and extranuclear estradiol-receptor complexes from MCF-7 cells but also with estrophilin from rat, calf, and monkey uterus, hen oviduct, and human breast cancers. Splenic lymphocytes from the immunized rat were fused with cells of two different mouse myeloma lines (P3-X63-Ag8 and Sp2/0-Ag14) to yield hybridoma cultures, 2% of which produced antibodies to estrophilin. After cloning by limiting dilution, three hybridoma lines secreting antiestrophilin were expanded in suspension culture and as ascites tumors in athymic mice to provide substantial quantities of monoclonal antibodies that recognize mammalian but not avian estrophilin and that show different degrees of reactivity with receptor from nonprimate sources. By growing the clone from Sp2/0 in the presence of [35S]methionine, radiolabeled monoclonal IgG has been prepared. These monoclonal antibodies should prove useful in the study of estrogen receptors of human reproductive tissues, in particular for the radioimmunochemical assay and immunocytochemical localization of receptors in breast cancers.

Rapid induction of mammary carcinoma in the rat and the influence of hormones on the tumors

A study was made of the optimal conditions for the induction of mammary cancer in the rat. 3-Methylcholanthrene was administered via the gastrointestinal tract, and a simple technique was worked out for inducing mammary cancer regularly and rapidly. Under conducive conditions, which were readily reproduced, multiple mammary carcinomas and these tumors only were induced in every rat in repeated experiments in 60 days or less. In the strain of animal employed in the present experiments, the rapid induction of mammary cancer proved to be a function of (a) dosage, (b) the timing of administration of the aromatic hydrocarbon, and (c) a favoring hormonal status of the recipient. Most of the established tumors were hormone-dependent because they diminished markedly in size after hormone withdrawal through ovariectomy or hypophysectomy. Similar regression of the tumors was frequently achieved by the administration of dihydrotestosterone. Shrinkage of the cancers was accompanied by atrophic changes. Experimental mammary tumors with these physiologic characteristics have not been recognized hitherto. The minority of mammary cancers continued to grow after ovariectomy; these are hormone-independent tumors and tumors of this sort had a characteristic cytologic appearance following modification of the endocrine state. The cell population of a single tumor was not always uniform in its response to appropriate hormonal modifications. In certain tumors in response to changes in the endocrine status of the host many of the cells underwent atrophy whilst other adjacent cells in the same tumor continued to grow so that the net result was a hormone-independent tumor. Hypophysectomy was the most effective method found to induce regression of mammary cancer in the present experiments.

Sexual differentiation in litter-bearing mammals: influence of sex of adjacent fetuses in utero

In rodents and swine, individual differences in a broad range of characteristics correlate with intrauterine position during fetal life. By identifying the intrauterine position of mice at cesarean delivery, we can predict reliably postnatal reproductive traits such as genital morphology, timing of puberty, length of estrous cycles, timing of reproductive senescence, sexual attractiveness, sexual behavior, aggressiveness, daily activity level, body weight and tissue enzyme activity in females; in males we can predict genital and brain morphology, sexual behavior, aggressiveness, daily activity level, body weight, and tissue enzyme activity. In mice, as in all mammals, male fetuses have greater concentrations of testosterone than do females. In addition, female mouse fetuses have greater circulating concentrations of estradiol than do male fetuses, a condition not found in all mammals. A mouse fetus positioned between males has greater concentrations of testosterone than does a fetus of the same sex positioned between females, and a fetus positioned between females has greater concentrations of estradiol than does a fetus of the same sex positioned between males. Gonadal steroids regulate differentiation of secondary sexual characteristics. Studies in which the effects of intrauterine position have been eliminated by exposing fetuses to steroid receptor blockers reveal the critical role of steroids in mediating this phenomenon. The intrauterine position phenomenon provides the only mammalian model for relating postnatal traits to concentrations of endogenous hormones to which individuals are exposed during fetal life. Results from studies using this naturally occurring experimental system in litter-bearing species have given insights concerning the consequences of individual differences in steroid concentrations during sexual differentiation that likely apply to all mammals. One specific hypothesis is that circulating estradiol may interact with testosterone in mediating some aspects of sexual differentiation in rodents and, thus, possibly in other mammals.

GREB 1 is a critical regulator of hormone dependent breast cancer growth

BACKGROUND

Estrogen plays a central role in breast cancer pathogenesis and many potent risk factors for the development of the disease can be explained in terms of increased lifetime exposure to estrogen. Although estrogen regulated genes have been identified, those critically involved in growth regulation remain elusive.METHODS. To identify candidate genes involved in estrogen stimulated breast cancer growth, DNA microarray based gene expression profiles were generated from three estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) positive breast cancer cell lines grown under multiple stimulatory and inhibitory conditions.

RESULTS

Only three genes were significantly induced by 17beta-estradiol (E2) relative to control in all three cell lines: GREB 1, stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and trefoil factor 1 (pS2). Quantitative real-time PCR assays confirmed that in all three cell lines, GREB 1 was induced by E2, but not by the antiestrogens tamoxifen (TAM) or ICI 182,780. GREB 1 expression level was strongly correlated with ER alpha positivity in 39 breast cancer cell lines of known ER alpha expression status. GREB 1 induction by E2 was rapid (7.3 fold by 2 h for MCF-7) and mirrored the fraction of cells entering S-phase when released from an estrogen deprivation induced cell arrest. Suppression of GREB 1 using siRNA blocked estrogen induced growth in MCF-7 cells and caused a paradoxical E2 induced growth inhibition.

CONCLUSION

These data suggest that GREB 1 is critically involved in the estrogen induced growth of breast cancer cells and has the potential of being a clinical marker for response to endocrine therapy as well as a potential therapeutic target.

Oestrogen receptors in human malignant melanoma

16 of 35 patients (46%) with malignant melanoma were found to have cytoplasmic oestrogen-receptor activity in biopsy specimens. OEstrogen-receptor activity was detected in primary lesions, lymph-node metastases, skin metastases, and visceral metastases. Equal percentages of males and females had positive assays. Scatchard analysis of binding in one case was consistent with a single class of high affinity receptor sites.

The environmental estrogen bisphenol a inhibits estradiol-induced hippocampal synaptogenesis

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogenic chemical that is widely used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins. Because BPA leaches out of plastic food and drink containers, as well as the BPA-containing plastics used in dental prostheses and sealants, considerable potential exists for human exposure to this compound. In this article we show that treatment of ovariectomized rats with BPA dose-dependently inhibits the estrogen-induced formation of dendritic spine synapses on pyramidal neurons in the CA1 area of the hippocampus. Significant inhibitory effects of BPA were observed at a dose of only 40 microg/kg, below the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference daily limit for human exposure. Because synaptic remodeling has been postulated to contribute to the rapid effects of estrogen on hippocampus-dependent memory, these data suggest that environmental BPA exposure may interfere with the development and expression of normal sex differences in cognitive function, via inhibition of estrogen-dependent hippocampal synapse formation. It may also exacerbate the impairment of hippocampal function observed during normal aging, as endogenous estrogen production declines.

PET-based estradiol challenge as a predictive biomarker of response to endocrine therapy in women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer

PURPOSE

To determine if response to endocrine therapy of breast cancer can be predicted by either a metabolic "flare reaction" detected by positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-[(18)F]-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG), induced by an estradiol challenge, or by estrogen-receptor (ER) status, determined by PET with the estrogen analog 16alpha-[(18)F]fluoroestradiol-17beta (FES).

METHODS

Fifty-one post-menopausal women with advanced estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer were studied. Patients underwent FES-PET and FDG-PET at baseline and repeat FDG-PET after 30 mg estradiol. Tracer uptakes was measured as the standardized uptake value (SUV). Patients were subsequently treated with either an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant. A prospectively defined cut-off SUV >or= 2 for FES was considered positive for ER expression. A cutoff of >or=12% increase in SUV for FDG, determined by ROC analysis, represented metabolic flare. PET results were correlated with responsiveness to endocrine therapy.

RESULTS

Seventeen patients responded and 34 patients did not respond to endocrine therapy. Four responders and one non-responder had a clinical flare reaction, while only the responders demonstrated metabolic flare. After estradiol challenge, a significantly higher mean (+/-SD) percent change in SUV for FDG was noted in responders (20.9 +/- 24.2) compared with non-responders (-4.3 +/- 11.0, P < 0.0001). On FES-PET, a higher tumor SUV was noted in responders (3.5 +/- 2.5) compared with non-responders (2.1 +/- 1.8, P = 0.0049). There was significantly longer overall survival in patients with metabolic flare than in those without flare regardless of type of endocrine therapy (P = 0.0062).

CONCLUSION

Baseline tumor FES uptake and metabolic flare after an estradiol challenge are both predictive of responsiveness to endocrine therapy in ER+ breast cancer.

Discovery of N-(4-(3-amino-1H-indazol-4-yl)phenyl)-N'-(2-fluoro-5-methylphenyl)urea (ABT-869), a 3-aminoindazole-based orally active multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor

In our continued efforts to search for potent and novel receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitors as potential anticancer agents, we discovered, through a structure-based design, that 3-aminoindazole could serve as an efficient hinge-binding template for kinase inhibitors. By incorporating an N,N'-diaryl urea moiety at the C4-position of 3-aminodazole, a series of RTK inhibitors were generated, which potently inhibited the tyrosine kinase activity of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and the platelet-derived growth factor receptor families. A number of compounds with potent oral activity were identified by utilizing an estradiol-induced mouse uterine edema model and an HT1080 human fibrosarcoma xenograft tumor model. In particular, compound 17p (ABT-869) was found to possess favorable pharmacokinetic profiles across different species and display significant tumor growth inhibition in multiple preclinical animal models.

Antagonism of estrogen action with a new benzothiophene derived antiestrogen

A new benzothiophene derived antiestrogen, LY139481, inhibited the uterotropic action of estradiol in a dose related fashion, and at 1 mg per day suppressed more than 90 percent of estradiol's activity in immature rats. LY139481 induced minimal uterotropic activity, and that activity declined in relation to dose. The relative binding affinity of LY139481 for rat uterine cytosol estrogen receptors was greater than that of estradiol in competitive assays and increased in relation to temperature (2.9 +/- 0.5 x estradiol at 30 degrees C). LY139481 caused estradiol-induced uterine hypertrophy to regress in a manner similar to that which resulted from withdrawal of estradiol treatment. Three successive daily injections of LY139481 slightly increased uterine weight, and blocked additional uterotropic action in response to estradiol and LY139481 administration on subsequent days. Furthermore, ten daily injections of estradiol alone did not increase uterine weight in animals pretreated with LY139481 for three days. In contrast, LY139481 did not prevent the partial uterotropic action of tamoxifen administration.