Estrogen Receptor-α Overexpression Suppresses 17β-Estradiol-Mediated Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression and Activation of Survival Kinases

Estrogen and its receptors influence growth and differentiation by stimulating the production and secretion of growth factors. Our previous studies indicate an increased expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-α and decreased growth factor synthesis in the olfactory bulb of reproductive senescent female rats as compared with young animals. The present study tests the hypothesis that abnormal overexpression of ERα contributes to decreased growth factor synthesis. We developed the HeLa-Tet-On cell line stably transfected with ERα (HTERα) that expresses increasing amounts of ERα with increasing doses of doxycycline (Dox). Increasing doses of Dox had no effect on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion in HTERα cells. However, in the presence of 40 nm 17β-estradiol, VEGF secretion increased in low-dose Dox-exposed HTERα cultures, which was attenuated by the ERα antagonist, 1,3-Bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4-methyl-5-[4-(2-piperidinylethoxy)phenol]1H-pyrazole dihydrochloride. However, at high-dose Dox and, consequently, high ERα levels, estradiol failed to increase VEGF. In the HeLa X6 cell line in which the Tet-On construct is upstream of an unrelated gene (Pitx2A), estradiol failed to induce VEGF at any Dox dose. Furthermore, in the HTERα cell line, estradiol selectively down-regulates phospho-ERK2 and phospho-Akt at high ERα expression. This study clearly demonstrates that the dose of receptor critically mediates estradiol’s ability to regulate growth factors and survival kinases. The present data also support the hypothesis that 17β-estradiol treatment to an ERα overexpressing system, such as the senescent brain, could reverse the normally observed beneficial effect of estrogen.