E₂ differentially modulates inducible HLA-DR expression in ERα⁺ and ERα⁻ breast cancer cell lines.

<p>MDA-MB-231, SK-BR-3, MCF-7, BT-474, and T47D were cultured in E₂-depleted media, treated with vehicle (ethanol) or E₂ (10⁻⁹ M) and stimulated or not with IFN-γ (100 U/ml) for 96 hours. (A & E) HLA-DR cell surface expression (L243) was analyzed by flow cytometry: grey line, isotype control; black line, constitutive expression; shaded histogram, IFN-γ induced expression. (B & F) Bar graphs represent the MFI (mean florescence intensity) ± SEM for HLA-DR expression of three independent experiments. (C & G) Western blot analysis was performed on cytoplasmic and nuclear extracts for ERα expression (HC-20) and on cytoplasmic extracts for HLA-DRα (TAL 1B5). Protein loading controls included α-tubulin (B-7) and P84 (5E10) for cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins, respectively. (D & H) Bar graphs show the ratio of band intensity for HLA-DRα, normalized to the α-tubulin band intensity and represent the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments (*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001).