PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wang, Thomas T. Y.
AU  - Phang, James M.
TI  - Effects of Estrogen on Apoptotic Pathways in Human Breast Cancer Cell Line MCF-7
DP  - 1995 Jun 15
TA  - Cancer Research
PG  - 2487--2489
VI  - 55
IP  - 12
4099  - http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/55/12/2487.short
4100  - http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/55/12/2487.full
SO  - Cancer Res1995 Jun 15; 55
AB  - We utilized a reverse transcription-PCR method to examine the effect of estrogen on the expression of mRNA for Bcl-2 and Bax, two modulatory proteins in the apoptotic pathway, in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. We found that the bcl-2 mRNA levels in the cells exposed to 17β-estradiol were higher than those of control cells. Although the relative bax mRNA levels remained unchanged, the changes in bcl-2 mRNA level occurred in a time- and concentration-dependent fashion. In addition, pretreatment with 17β-estradiol protected MCF-7 cells from apoptosis. Our study provides evidence that responses of breast epithelial cells toward a steroid sex hormone involve regulation of the apoptotic pathway. ©1995 American Association for Cancer Research.