Remembrance: Gregory Pincus--catalyst for early receptor studies.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E V Jensen.
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In the three decades since the original discovery of receptors for steroid hormones, much has been learned about the biochemical processes by which these regulatory agents exert their effects in target tissues. The intracellular receptor proteins are potential transcription factors, needed for optimal gene expression in hormone-dependent cells. They are present in an inactive form until association with the hormone converts them to a functional state that can react with target genes. Transformation of the receptor protein to the nuclear binding form appears to involve the removal of both macromolecular and micromolecular factors that act to keep the receptor form reacting with DNA. Much of the native receptor is present in the nucleus, loosely bound and readily extractable, but for some and possibly all steroid hormones, some receptor is in the cytoplasm, perhaps in equilibrium with a nuclear pool. Methods have been developed for the stabilization, purification, and characterization of receptor proteins, and through cloning and sequencing of their cDNAs, primary structures for these receptors are now known. This has led to the recognition of structural similarities among the family of receptors for the different steroid hormones and to the identification of regions in the protein molecule responsible for the various aspects of their function. Monoclonal antibodies recognizing specific molecular domains are available for most receptors. Despite the knowledge that has been acquired, many important questions remain unsolved. How does association with the steroid remove factors keeping the receptor protein in its native state, and how does binding of the transformed receptor to the response element in the promoter region enhance gene transcription? Once it has converted the receptor to the nuclear binding state, is there a further role for the steroid in modulating transcription? Still not entirely clear is the involvement of phosphorylation and/or dephosphorylation in hormone binding, receptor transformation, and transcriptional activation. Less vital to basic understanding but important in the overall picture is whether the native receptors for gonadal hormones are entirely confined to the nucleus or whether there is an intracellular distribution equilibrium. With the effort now being devoted to this field, and with the application of new experimental techniques, especially those of molecular biology, our understanding of receptor function is progressing rapidly. The precise mechanism of steroid hormone action should soon be completely established.
Treatment of human breast cancer cytosol with tamoxifen (Tam) or 4-monohydroxytamoxifen (MHT) enhances the immunoreactivity of the estrogen receptor toward monoclonal antibody H222 but not monoclonal antibodies D547 or D75. This effect is evident from an increase in the apparent receptor content measured by the Abbott enzyme immunoassay, which uses peroxidase-labeled H222 as the chromogenic marker, and in the rate and size of the sedimentation peak of the immune complex of the receptor with radiolabeled H222. In contrast, MHT shows no effect in reversed immunoassay systems that use peroxidase-labeled D547 or D75 as chromogenic markers, nor does it affect the sedimentation peak of the complex of D547 with the receptor. MHT can exert its action on receptor bound to immobilized antibody. These results indicate that reaction with antiestrogens causes a change, probably conformational, in the receptor protein that exposes an occult antigenic determinant recognized uniquely by H222. Since this can occur in cytosol previously treated with excess estradiol in the cold, it appears to result from an interaction of antiestrogens with a region of the receptor distinct from the estrogen-binding site, suggesting that agonist and antagonist actions may involve different parts of the receptor molecule.
The preparation of specific antibodies, and especially monoclonal antibodies, to human estrophilin has furnished a means of detecting and studying receptor localization, structure and function, independent of its ability to bind labeled steroid. These reagents have been especially useful in providing improved methods for the determination of estrogen receptors in human breast cancers, as a guide to clinical prognosis and therapy, and in facilitating the cloning of estrophilin cDNA leading to an elucidation of the aminoacid sequence of the receptor molecule.
We have used an immunoperoxidase technique utilizing a monoclonal antibody to the estradiol receptor to identify immunoreactive estradiol receptor in breast carcinomas and have examined the relationship between the immunoreactive estradiol receptor and response to therapy in patients with advanced breast cancer. Fifty-six patients were found to be assessable for response to endocrine therapy. Twenty-two showed an objective response to some form of endocrine manipulation, and all these had positively stained carcinomas. None of the 17 patients with negatively stained carcinomas responded to endocrine therapy. We conclude that the monoclonal antibody to estradiol receptor can help identify breast cancer patients who may respond to endocrine therapy.
An assay for the quantitation of cytoplasmic and nuclear glucocorticoid receptors in lymphoid tissue has been developed using controlled pore glass (CPG) beads. Soluble receptor--3H-steroid complex (cytosol or nuclear extract) is adsorbed quantitatively within the crevasses of porous glass beads. Excess labeled steroid as well as most non-specifically bound steroid is easily washed away, leaving the hormone-receptor complex retained by the beads. Bound 3H-steroid is eluted with ethanol and measured for radioactivity. This procedure which is simple, rapid, and highly reproducible is carried out using frozen samples (stable for many months) containing as few as 1 X 10(7) cells. A comparison of the CPG assay to dextran coated charcoal and a whole cell assay demonstrates that CPG and dextran coated charcoal give equivalent measurements of cytosolic receptor concentration, while the CPG and whole cell assays provide equivalent values for total receptor content.
An estrogen receptor immunocytochemical assay which uses monoclonal antibodies to the estrogen receptor protein [Nature (Lond.), 307: 745-747, 1984] was applied to several human tissues, including human breast tumors, and the results were compared to those of steroid-binding assays performed on cytosol extracts of the same tissues. Specific immunoperoxidase staining in fixed, frozen sections was confined to the nucleus of selected cell populations within each tissue examined. In 117 human breast cancers, the presence or absence of nuclear staining was significantly associated with the concentration of cytosolic estrogen receptor. Thirty-eight estrogen receptor immunocytochemical assay-positive tumors were further assessed for several quantifiable features of the staining, including intensity, cellularity, and the proportion of tumor cells stained. Of these, epithelial cellularity showed the highest degree of correlation with the results of steroid-binding assays.
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Immunoglobulin from the serum of rabbits immunized with highly purified estradiol-receptor complex from calf uterine nuclei has been shown to contain specific antibodies to estrophilin by five criteria. Antibodies to calf nuclear estrophilin cross react with nuclear estradiol-receptor complexes of rat, rabbit and sheep uterus, rat endometrial and pituitary tumor, and MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. They also react with extranuclear receptor of calf, rat, mouse, rabbit, guinea pig, monkey and sheep uterus, rat mammary, endometrial and pituitary tumor, and human breast cancer. There is no interaction of the antibody with estradiol itself. The nuclear form of estrophilin appears to bind more immunoglobulin molecules than does the cytosol form. The antibodies do not react with either the nuclear or extranuclear dihydrotestosterone-receptor complexes of rat prostate, with the extranuclear progesterone-receptor complexes of rabbit uterus, chick oviduct or rat endometrial tumor, or with rat and mouse alpha-fetoprotein. These findings indicate an immunochemical similarity among estrophilins from several mammalian species, as well as between nuclear and extranuclear forms of the receptor, but not among receptor proteins for different steroid hormones. Immunoglobulin from the serum of a goat immunized with similar antigen shows a considerably higher titer of antibodies to estrophilin. These react with nuclear and extranuclear estradiol-receptor complexes of calf uterus to produce somewhat larger entities than those formed with the rabbit antibody. Unlike the rabbit antibody, interaction with the goat antibody causes a noticeable decrease in estradiol-binding affinity of the extranuclear estrophilin as well as an apparent decrease in the total hormone-binding capacity. Specific antibodies to estrophilin offer promise as valuable reagents for receptor analysis and purification, as well as for the elucidation of many still unresolved questions concerning receptor synthesis, localization and function.
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Immunoglobulin obtained from the serum of rabbits immunized with a highly purified preparation of estradiol-receptor complex from calf uterine nuclei has been shown to contain specific antibodies to the receptor protein (estrophilin) by four criteria: (a) precipitation of the radioactive steroid upon addition of goat antibody against rabbit gamma globulin to a mixture of the tritiated estradiol-receptor complex and the immunoglobulin, (b) adsorption of the estradiol-receptor complex by the immunoglobulin linked to Sepharose, (c) adsorption of the estradiol-receptor complex in the presence of the immunoglobulin by Staphylococcus aureus protein-A linked to Sepharose, and (d) the ability of the immunoglobulin to increase the sedimentation rate of the estradiol-receptor complex. Antibodies to calf nuclear estrophilin were shown to crossreact with the nuclear receptor of rat uterus, as well as with the extranuclear receptor of calf, rat, mouse, and guinea pig uterus and of human breast cancer. The antibodies do not react with either the nuclear or extranuclear dihydrotestosterone-receptor complexes of rat prostate or with the extranuclear progesterone-receptor complex of chick oviduct. These findings indicate an immunochemical similarity among estrophilins from several mammalian species, as well as between extranuclear and nuclear forms of the receptor, but not among receptor proteins for different steroid hormones.
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Treatment of the unstable 3beta-hydroxy-20, 20-dimethoxypregn-5-ene 3-acetate with acetic anhydride at reflux temperature gave a mixture of 3beta-hydroxy-20-methoxypregna-5, 17(20)-diene and 3beta-hydroxy-20-methoxypregna-5, 20-diene 3-acetates. Fluorination of this mixture with perchloryl fluoride afforded after fractionated crystallization 3beta-hydroxy-17-fluoro-20-methoxypregna-5, 20-diene 3-acetate. Acid hydrolysis of the reaction mixture and subsequent chromatographic separation led to 3beta-hydroxy-17-fluoropregn-5-en-20-one 3-acetate and 3beta-hydroxy-21-fluoropregn-5-en-20-one 3-acetate. 3beta-Hydroxy-17-fluoro-20-methoxy-pregna-5, 20-diene 3-acetate did not react further with perchloryl fluoride even under forcing conditions. Fluorination of 3beta-hydroxy-20-(N-ethyl benzylamino)-pregna-5, 17(20)-diene gave 3beta-hydroxy-17, 21-difluoro-pregn-5-en-20-one, exclusively.