Estrogen and Its Functional Roles on Cell Surfaces

There may now be a radical change in the way how researchers view estrogen's role in organ development and function thanks to a new discovery by endocrinologists.

To date, scientists in the field focused on receptors in the cell's nucleus as the primary site for estrogen's effect on gene activity and organ development and function. There has been acknowledgement of similar estrogen receptors outside of the nucleus but much debate as to whether they are important.

Estrogen Does Not Prevent Recurrent Strokes
Despite some past evidence that hormone replacement might lower stroke risk in older women, new research shows that estrogen therapy does not protect

To investigate this, Dr. Ellis Levin, professor of medicine at UC Irvine, employed a knock-in mouse that prevented the main estrogen receptor, ER-alpha, from trafficking to the cell membrane.

As a result, Levin found that many organs in the female mice were extremely abnormal, including the mammary gland, uterus, and ovaries. Additionally, pituitary hormone production and fat development were also severely impacted, and the mice were completely infertile.

"Until now, research has taken a narrow view on the importance of estrogen signaling outside the nucleus during development," Levin said. "What this study shows is that both nuclear and cell membrane estrogen receptors are required to collaborate for normal organ development and function."

Estrogen lowers cancer risk
Italian scientists have found that women had about a 20 percent lower chance of developing cancer if they used oral contraceptives. This new

The implications of this discover move beyond development, Levin added, and can include estrogen's role in causing cancers, or preventing cardiovascular diseases and bone diseases. Current therapeutic efforts propose to target estrogen's ability in the nucleus to turn genes on and off, but Levin notes new approaches should also explore irregularities of functions at cell membrane receptors that affect disease.

"The cell membrane receptor is very sophisticated, impacting the nuclear receptor action and modifying certain proteins and their functions throughout the cells of many organs," Levin said. "By studying how to regulate the partnership between these two receptor sets, and modulate membrane receptor signaling, we can understand how to better treat estrogen-linked diseases and gain benefits in other aspects."

Source-Eurekalert