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Cadmium's disguise dupes the estrogen receptor

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Cadmium is a toxic environmental pollutant that has worrisome estrogenic effects in cell culture. New data from rats show that cadmium can act as an estrogen mimic in the whole animal, inducing conditions ranging from uterine hyperplasia to early onset of puberty (pages 1081–1084).

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Figure 1: Estrogens activate multiple ERα-dependent responses.

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  1. Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 77843, USA

    Stephen Safe

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  1. Stephen Safe
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Safe, S. Cadmium's disguise dupes the estrogen receptor. Nat Med 9, 1000–1001 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0803-1000

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