%0 Journal Article
%T Identification of estrogen-regulated genes by microarray analysis of the uterus of immature rats exposed to endocrine disrupting chemicals
%A Eui-Ju Hong
%A Se-Hyung Park
%A Kyung-Chul Choi
%A Peter CK Leung
%A Eui-Bae Jeung
%J Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1477-7827-4-49
%X Environmental chemicals that disrupt endocrine function are suspected for their adverse effects on the reproductive system in wild animals and humans and are being increasingly assumed for their possible participation in inducing estrogenic effects. Furthermore, they are proposed to possess hormone-like properties, i.e., mimicking natural hormones, inhibiting the action of hormones, and inducing abnormal gene expressions. Environmental estrogenic compounds that bind to the estrogen receptors (ERs) can block or alter endogenous estrogen functions in reproductive and developmental stages via an ER-mediated response [1]. Examples of suspected environmental estrogenic chemicals (endocrine disruptors; EDs) include polychlorinated hydroxybiphenyls, DDT and its derivatives, certain insecticides and herbicides (kepone and methoxychlor), plastic components (bisphenol A) and some components of detergents and their biodegradation products (alkylphenols etc.). Although the activity of most of these environmental estrogens is low when compared to endogenous or synthetic estrogens (17¦Â-estradiol; E2 or ethinylestradiol), dietary or environmental exposure scenarios that led to the detection of significant quantities of these substances in human urine and tissue sample have been described [2].The profound effects of E2 on cell growth, differentiation, and general homeostasis of reproductive and other systems are mediated mainly by the temporal and cell type-specific expression of different genes, whose products are the molecules controlling these molecular events [3,4]. In rats, the concentration of E2 is consistently low throughout neonatal development and starts to increase after day 28 of age [5]. The uterus and ovaries are two of the most sensitive tissues to E2, and both tissues express two forms of ER, ER¦Á and ER¦Â. In particular, ER¦Á is predominantly expressed in uteri while ER¦Â is expressed in ovaries [6,7]. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic estrogen which can induce v
%U http://www.rbej.com/content/4/1/49