Park Byeong-Woo, Kim Ki-Suk, Heo Min-Kyu, Yang Woo-Ick, Kim Seung Il, Kim Joo-Hang, Kim Gwi Eon, Lee Kyong Sik
Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemun-ku, Seoul, Korea.
J Surg Oncol. 2006 May 1;93(6):504-10. doi: 10.1002/jso.20336.
Although more than five variant forms of estrogen receptor-beta (ERbeta) have been identified, their role has not been identified. This study was carried out to investigate the changes of ERbeta variants in breast cancer development.
Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and triple primer PCR (TP-PCR), the expression levels of ERbeta variants mRNA were measured in 66 paired normal and cancer tissues. The relative expression level of ERbeta variants were compared between normal and cancer tissues, and also compared according to various clinicopathological parameters.
Among ERbeta variants, ERbeta2 and ERbeta5 consist of the major proportion of ERbeta expression both in normal and cancer tissues. The ERbeta and ERbeta2 expression levels decreased significantly in the cancers compared with corresponding normal tissues, particularly in ERalpha-expressing cancers. However, ERbeta5 expression level increased significantly in the cancers, especially in those of postmenopausal patients. The relative increase of ERbeta5 expression in cancer tissues was associated with favorable differentiation.
Decrease of ERbeta2 is thought to be the key reason for the decrease in ERbeta expression in cancer tissues, and it is particularly associated with the development of ERalpha-expressing breast cancer.
尽管已鉴定出雌激素受体β（ERβ）有五种以上的变异形式，但其作用尚未明确。本研究旨在探讨ERβ变异体在乳腺癌发生发展过程中的变化。
采用逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和三重引物PCR（TP-PCR）技术，检测66对正常组织和癌组织中ERβ变异体mRNA的表达水平。比较正常组织和癌组织中ERβ变异体的相对表达水平，并根据各种临床病理参数进行比较。
在ERβ变异体中，ERβ2和ERβ5在正常组织和癌组织中均占ERβ表达的主要部分。与相应的正常组织相比，癌组织中ERβ和ERβ2的表达水平显著降低，尤其是在表达ERα的癌组织中。然而，癌组织中ERβ5的表达水平显著升高，尤其是在绝经后患者的癌组织中。癌组织中ERβ5表达的相对增加与良好的分化相关。
ERβ2的降低被认为是癌组织中ERβ表达降低的关键原因，并且它尤其与表达ERα的乳腺癌的发生发展相关。
