title: Women, autoimmunity, and cancer: a dangerous liaison between estrogen and activation-induced deaminase?
abstract: Why women are more susceptible to autoimmune diseases is not completely clear, but new data suggest that the hormone estrogen may play an important role. A new study now shows that estrogen activates the expression of activation-induced deaminase (AID), a protein that drives antibody diversification by deaminating cytosine in DNA to uracil. If estrogen increases the level of AID, increased mutations could transform benign antibodies into anti-self pariahs. AID might also contribute to cancer--particularly in breast tissue, which is highly responsive to estrogen--by introducing mutations and strand breaks into the genome.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Maul
authors.forename: Patricia J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gearhart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000187:drug effects; D003564:Cytidine Deaminase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D027041:Somatic Hypermutation, Immunoglobulin / Q000235:genetics; D000098830:AICDA (Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase)
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D000098830:AICDA (Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase); D003564:Cytidine Deaminase