Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Sendai, Japan.
Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2013 Jan 30;365(2):207-11. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2012.10.020. Epub 2012 Oct 30.
The nuclear hormone receptor estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα) regulates the activation of mitochondrial genes in various human tissues, but its role in the adrenal gland and its disorders has not been defined. Therefore, we examined ERRα expression in both normal adrenal cortex (NAC) and adrenocortical tumor (ACT) in order to study the possible correlation of ERRα with adrenal development and tumor development.
Human adrenal specimens (non-pathological fetal n=7; non-pathological post-birth n=40; aldosterone producing adenoma (APA) n=11; cortisol producing adenoma (CPA) n=11; adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) n=8) were immunohistochemically examined in this study. NAC (n=13) and ACT (n=28) frozen tissue specimens were also available for studying ERRα mRNA levels.
In fetal NAC tissues, ERRα labeling index (LI) in fetal zone (FZ) was significantly higher that that in neocortex (NC), and the differences among age groups for overall mean LI was statistically significant when analyzed according to individual cortical layers. ERRα LI was also significantly higher in ACC than in other types of ACT. ERRα mRNA was detected in NAC and all types of ACT.
Results of our present study suggest a possible role of ERRα in adrenal development and ACC.
核激素受体雌激素相关受体 α（ERRα）调节各种人体组织中线粒体基因的激活，但它在肾上腺及其疾病中的作用尚未确定。因此，我们检测了正常肾上腺皮质（NAC）和肾上腺皮质肿瘤（ACT）中 ERRα 的表达，以研究 ERRα 与肾上腺发育和肿瘤发展的可能相关性。
本研究对人类肾上腺标本（非病理性胎儿 n=7；非病理性出生后 n=40；醛固酮产生腺瘤（APA）n=11；皮质醇产生腺瘤（CPA）n=11；肾上腺皮质癌（ACC）n=8）进行了免疫组织化学检查。还获得了 NAC（n=13）和 ACT（n=28）的冷冻组织标本，以研究 ERRα mRNA 水平。
在胎儿 NAC 组织中，胎儿区（FZ）的 ERRα 标记指数（LI）明显高于新皮质（NC），并且根据皮质层的个体分析，各年龄组的总体平均 LI 之间的差异具有统计学意义。与其他类型的 ACT 相比，ACC 中的 ERRα LI 也明显更高。在 NAC 和所有类型的 ACT 中均检测到 ERRα mRNA。
本研究结果表明，ERRα 可能在肾上腺发育和 ACC 中发挥作用。
