title: Overexpression of estrogen receptor-α in human papillary thyroid carcinomas studied by laser- capture microdissection and molecular biology.
abstract: The expression pattern of estrogen receptor (ER) isoforms in normal and tumor thyroid tissues is still controversial and poor defined, therefore, a more detailed study of the distribution of these molecules is needed. Most discrepancies might be due to the methods utilized. We studied the expression of ER isoforms in human papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), in fine-needle aspiration biopsy-derived specimens, and in cells, using more accurate techniques, such as laser-capture microdissection, real-time quantitative PCR, and Western blot. Laser-capture microdissection allowed us to isolate homogeneous cell populations from human PTC surgical samples. Tumor, peritumor, or normal host tissue of the same sample were separately dissected and analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blot. Estrogen receptor-α mRNA was more expressed in cancer-microdissected cells from human PTC, as compared with microdissected cells obtained from surrounding normal host tissue (450 vs 12, P = 0.001). A similar pattern was observed with Western blot for the ER-a protein. By contrast, ER-β mRNA expression was not detected among the microdissected tissue fractions. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy-derived specimens showed a similar expression pattern to ER. Moreover, human PTC cell line BCPAP and cancer stem cells from PTC, analyzed under hypoxic conditions, showed a hypoxia-driven increase in ER-α expression. In conclusion, ER-α might have an important role in human PTC, and its overexpression can be studied in routine needle aspirate as a possible marker of malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Vito
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Santis
authors.forename: Giulietta Anna
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Perrone
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mari
authors.forename: Maria Chiara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Antoni
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fadda
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tafani
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carpi
authors.forename: Matteo A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Russo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D002277:Carcinoma; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia; D061346:Laser Capture Microdissection; D008875:Middle Aged; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger