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Oestrogen receptor alpha in female fetal, infant, and child mammary tissue
Author(s) -
Keeling Jean W.,
Özer Erdener,
King George,
Walker Frederick
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/1096-9896(2000)9999:9999<::aid-path661>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - fetus , alpha (finance) , oestrogen receptor , medicine , endocrinology , obstetrics , biology , pregnancy , breast cancer , cancer , genetics , surgery , construct validity , patient satisfaction
Oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) expression was studied in female mammary tissue from a series of 35 samples obtained post‐mortem, ranging from fetuses of 13 weeks' gestation to prepubertal children of 12 years. Immunocytochemistry was performed on formalin‐fixed tissue after microwave antigen retrieval. ERα was present in epithelial cell nuclei from the 30th week of gestation onwards and was markedly up‐regulated shortly after birth. For up to 3 months thereafter, progesterone receptor was also expressed, indicative that the ERα was functional. During this period, ERα was also present in epithelial cell cytoplasm. From this perspective of the developing breast, it is suggested that an early postnatal component should be added to the prenatal oestrogen hypothesis; further, the significance of ERα cytoplasmic staining in the adult breast also merits review. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.