Endocrine Abstracts

Her-2/neu over-expression is associated with elevated tumorigenicity and enhanced metastatic potential. Recently a DNA motif containing the consensus binding site of PEA3, a member of the ets transcription factor family has been identified on the Her-2/neu promoter. Activation of the PEA3 response element has been proposed to be involved in the transcriptional squelching of Her-2/neu.Methods: Using RT-PCR we have determined PEA3 mRNA expression in human breast tissue and l...

The estrogen receptor is encoded by two genes (ER-alpha and ER-beta). Both function as transcription factors to modulate expression of target genes. ER-alpha has been shown to interact with co-regulators to enhance or inhibit transcription in vitro. We hypothesised that the existence of these co-regulators contribute to the differing clinical response of patients to treatment with the anti-estrogen four hydroxytamoxifen (4-HOT). The aim of this project was to localise ER-alpha...