Promotor analysis of ESR1 in endometrial cancer cell lines, endometrial and endometriotic tissue

Purpose The nuclear hormone receptor estrogen receptor α (ERα) is pivotal for numerous processes in the cell. As a transcription factor, it regulates eukaryotic gene expression and affects cellular proliferation and differentiation in target tissues. Moreover, ERα is known for its influence on various gynecological diseases and carcinogenesis. Since its expression is often altered in diseased tissues and this alteration was found to be caused by hypermethylation of the ESR1 promotor region in cancer, including breast and colorectal cancer, the aim of this study is to elucidate if the expression of ERα is also regulated epigenetically in endometriosis and endometrial cancer.

Using real-time methylation-specific PCR (rt-MSP), we examined endometrial and endometriotic tissues as well as five endometrial cancer cell lines and compared the methylation status with the actual expression of ERα.

The results of our study indicate that, though its expression is altered in endometrial and endometriotic tissue, ERα is not regulated by methylation of the promotor region in endometriosis. In contrast, three of the five endometrial cancer cell lines are methylated in the promotor region of ESR1.

Thus, further investigation of the connection between ERα and endometrial cancer will be the next step. Similar content being viewed by others Change history 08 June 2018 In the original publication of the article, the name of first author was misspelled. The correct name has been copied below:

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VvS: Development of the project idea, principal supervision of the investigators. Corresponding author Ethics declarations Funding This study was funded by the Medical Faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. Conflict of interest All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical approval All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Toderow, V., Rahmeh, M., Hofmann, S. et al. Promotor analysis of ESR1 in endometrial cancer cell lines, endometrial and endometriotic tissue. Arch Gynecol Obstet 296, 269–276 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4405-x Received: Accepted: Published: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4405-x