Expression of estrogen receptor and proto-oncogene messenger ribonucleic acids in reproductive tracts of neonatally diethylstilbestrol-exposed female mice with or without post-puberal estrogen administration.

Perinatal treatment of female mice with natural and synthetic estrogens including diethylstilbestrol (DES) results in estrogen-independent persistent proliferation and cornification of the vaginal epithelium. The dynamics of the induction of estrogen receptor (ER), c-jun, c-fos and c-myc mRNAs by 17 beta-estradiol (E2) was examined in the uterus and vagina of neonatally DES-exposed and -unexposed ovariectomized adult mice. In the uterus of neonatally DES-unexposed ovariectomized mice, the expression of ER mRNA increased within 1 h after E2 administration and declined by 12 h thereafter. ER mRNA in the vagina decreased within 1 h after the stimulation and recovered by 12 h thereafter. In the uterus, c-jun and c-fos mRNAs increased in concentration within 1 h after E2 administration, showing a peak 3 h after the stimulation; they decreased with time thereafter. In the vagina, the concentration of c-jun and c-fos mRNAs increased rapidly, reaching a peak within 1 h after the stimulation. However, the expression of c-myc in uterus and vagina was not changed by postpuberal E2. These results suggest that estrogen regulation of ER and proto-oncogene mRNAs in the vagina differs from those in the uterus. In the neonatally DES-exposed ovariectomized adult mice, uterine ER mRNA expression levels were significantly higher than in the unexposed ovariectomized controls; however, vaginal levels were drastically lower than in the controls. Expression of c-jun and c-fos mRNAs was greater in both the uterus (3- and 6-fold, respectively) and the vagina (18- and 4-fold) of neonatally DES-exposed mice than in controls. The ER mRNA and the increased levels of c-fos and c-jun mRNAs in both uterus and vagina of neonatally DES-exposed ovariectomized mice were not further altered by post-puberal E2 and may be related to ovary-independent persistent changes in the genital tract.