Molecular and cellular determinants of estrogen receptor alpha expression

Effectors of chromatin structure, hormones, growth factors, and a variety of other agents implicate multiple cellular systems in the control of ERα expression. The dramatic increase in information about these agents provides investigators with an enhanced conceptual framework for the role of estrogen biology in health and disease. The factors reviewed above serve as tools that can be utilized to further accelerate the pace of discovery in this area. Moreover, the diversity of ER regulatory agents reflects the biologic importance of precisely coordinating the timing and extent of ER expression and suggests that investigators working in a number of fields can contribute relevant molecular knowledge that may result in the clinical use of novel molecular determinants of ER expression. Acknowledgments We are grateful to Richard Pestell for his critical review of the manuscript. In part, this review is supported by NIH grants 1 K08 CA101875-01 (J.J.P.) and CA91149 (P.E.B.).

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