Open AccessIdentification of a novel human estrogen receptor-α splice variant able to enhance malignant biological behaviors of breast cancer cells
Author(s) -
Hua Zhu,
Yue Huang,
Heling Su,
Yili Ma,
Yi-Ming Tao,
D. Joshua Liao,
Yongming Liu,
Zhaoyong Feng
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
oncology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1792-1082
pISSN - 1792-1074
DOI - 10.3892/ol.2018.7970
Subject(s) - estrogen receptor , biology , oncogene , transfection , cancer research , splice , breast cancer , alternative splicing , cancer , exon , cancer cell , estrogen receptor alpha , microbiology and biotechnology , cell cycle , gene , genetics
Since the early 1990s, multiple human estrogen receptor-α (hER-α) splice variants have been identified, of which the majority contain ≥1 deleted exon, and some are expressed as proteins with modified functions from the wild-type 66 kDa hER-α (ER-α66). In the present study, a novel hER-α splice variant, ER-α30, was identified and cloned from clinical breast cancer tissue. The ER-α30 sequence lacked a ligand-binding domain and a ligand-dependent transcriptional activation domain but retained the N-terminal transcriptional activation domain, the DNA-binding domain and a partial hinge domain, and possesses a unique 10-amino-acid domain. The expression of ER-α30 was associated with ER-α66-negative and progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer. The 30 kDa protein was expressed in stably transfected MDA-MB-231 cells, and the overexpression of ER-α30 in MDA-MB-231 cells enhanced malignant biological behaviors, including cellular proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro . The results of the present study indicated that ER-α30 might represent a potential biomarker for breast cancer.