Identifying the Mechanisms of Estrogen Receptors in Human Breast Cancer Cells through Study of Direct Target Gene Expression

Authors

Megan Lundell, Brigham Young University
Dr. Chin-Yo Lin, Brigham Young University

Keywords

estrogen receptors, ERs, human breast cancer, direct target gene expression

College

Life Sciences

Department

Microbiology and Molecular Biology

Abstract

Estrogens, including estrodial (E2), are known to play a significant role in a number of developmental and physiological processes including the genesis and progression of breast cancer. The action of estrogens is mediated by estrogen receptors (ERs), which function as ligand-dependent transcription factors. Upon ligand binding, ERs interact with cis-regulatory elements of target genes either directly by binding to estrogen response elements or indirectly through interaction with transcription factor complexes and their respective binding sites.1 The primary objective of this project involved the knockdown, or reduction, of NCor, a co-repressor protein known to associate with ER in the presence of E2, in order to discover its effect on the expression of previously identified down-regulated genes in ER breast cancer cells.

Recommended Citation

Lundell, Megan and Lin, Dr. Chin-Yo (2013) "Identifying the Mechanisms of Estrogen Receptors in Human Breast Cancer Cells through Study of Direct Target Gene Expression," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 1256.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1256