title: Frequent loss of estrogen and progesterone receptors in human prostatic tumors determined by quantitative real-time PCR.
abstract: Relative gene expression of the estrogen receptors (ER)-alpha (NR3A1) and ER-beta (NR3A2) along with progesterone receptors PR-A and PR-B (NR3C3) was determined by quantitative real-time PCR in a previously characterized panel of paired human prostate tumor and surrounding unaffected tissue (Prostate 54:275). In approximately half of these cases, a 10-fold or greater reduction in the relative mRNA levels of ER-beta but not ER-alpha was found in the cancer as compared to normal tissue, which was also observed with unpaired samples. Immunohistochemical staining for ER-beta and ER-alpha closely paralleled mRNA expression patterns for both receptors in paired samples. Reduced relative expressions of PR-B and total PR-A and PR-B isoforms were also observed in prostate tumor as compared to unaffected tissue, implying a potential role of PR in prostate tissue. The relative decrease in ER-beta is greater than that observed in prior studies, suggesting that paired samples more accurately reflect differences within individual cases. These findings favor the concept that ER-beta mediates anti-proliferative signals and its loss in prostatic tumor promotes proliferation of these cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Paul I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yahya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Elshimali
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stolz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015536:Down-Regulation; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011467:Prostate / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone