title: Interaction of steroid receptor coactivators and estrogen receptors in the human placenta.
abstract: Female sex steroid hormones such as estrogen and progesterone have a pivotal role in maintaining pregnancy in human and animals. Especially, estrogen exerts specific effects on the cardiovascular system and angiogenesis, and thus affects significantly on placentation. Although the functions of estrogen have been emphasized during pregnancy, their signaling pathways in the placenta have not been fully understood. In this study, estrogen signaling was evaluated according to gestational age. Human placenta samples were collected and divided into early preterm (n=10), late preterm (n=18), and term (n=20) groups. First, serum estrogen concentration and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA expression, which is known as gestation clock gene, were increased following gestation age in our experimental condition, as we expected. Next, the expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) and steroid receptor coactivators (SRCs) in the placenta was evaluated. ERα (ESR1) and ERβ (ESR2) were expressed highly at term period compared with early preterm. In addition, SRC family including SRC1, SRC2, and SRC3 was expressed in the human placenta, and the levels of SRC1, SRC2, and SRC3 were increased in the placenta at the late stage of gestation. The interaction of ERs with SRCs was also examined, which was significantly enhanced at term period. In the immunostaining results, it was indicated that ERs and SRCs were all dominantly expressed in syncytiotrophoblast cells. These results suggested that SRC1, SRC2, and SRC3 were expressed and interact with ERs highly at the late stage of gestation, and may amplify the signaling of estrogen in the placenta to maintain pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and GynecologyBiomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Chul
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials ScienceCollege of Natural Resources & Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute, Pusan National University, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mee-Na
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and GynecologyBiomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and GynecologyBiomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Kil
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials ScienceCollege of Natural Resources & Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute, Pusan National University, Republic of Korea anbs@pusan.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Beum-Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: An
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D056918:Nuclear Receptor Coactivators / Q000378:metabolism*; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011485:Protein Binding; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D056918:Nuclear Receptor Coactivators; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D004958:Estradiol; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
keywords: estrogen; estrogen receptor; gestation; placenta; steroid receptor coactivator