Estrogen Receptors In Cancers

Background. Estrogen and its two receptors, estrogen receptor-α and –β (ER-α and ER-β) play an important role in endorine-related cancer biology including breast- and prostate- cancers. The role of ER-α has been studied in much detail compared to ER-β. Recent studies have indicated that ER-β may also play a critical role in these cancers. Therefore, a better understanding of ER-β may lead to development of better therapeutic approaches for the treatment of these cancers. The aim of this project was to determine the level of expression of ER-β in breast- and prostate- cancer cells and compare their levels with ER-α. A number of small molecule estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) have been developed for specific clinical applications and in this study, one such compound Diarylpropionitrile (DPN), which acts as an agonist for ER-β was tested for cell killings. Methods. The expression of ER-α and ER-β were analyzed by performing qualitative western blot analysis using ER-α and ER-β antibodies. The effect of DPN on cell death was analyzed using Zeiss Microscope. Results. ER-α and ER-β were detected by western blotting in 2-breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and T-47D) and 1 prostate cancer cell line (PC-3). All cell lines expressed ER-α and ER-β, with a differential localization between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. All cell lines show that ER-α was localized more in the nucleus, while ER-β was mainly localized in cytoplasm compared to nucleus. Conclusion. Using breast cancer cells (MCF-7, T-47D) and prostate cancer cell (PC-3) we show that all these cell lines express both ER-α and ER-β. Also, treatment of these cells with DPN can cause cell death