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Expression of Genomic Functional Estrogen Receptor 1 in Mouse Sertoli Cells

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Abstract

There is no consensus whether Sertoli cells express estrogen receptor 1 (Esr1). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and immunofluorescence demonstrated that mouse Sertoli cell lines, TM4, MSC-1, and 15P-1, and purified primary mouse Sertoli cells (PSCs) contained Esr1 messenger RNA and proteins. Incubation of Sertoli cells with 17β-estradiol (E2) or ESR1 agonist stimulated the expression of an estrogen responsive gene Greb1, which was prevented by ESR inhibitor or ESR1 antagonist. Overexpression of Esr1 in MSC-1 enhanced E2-induced Greb1 expression, while knockdown of Esr1 by small interfering RNA in TM4 attenuated the response. Furthermore, E2-induced Greb1 expression was abolished in the PSCs isolated from Amh-Cre/Esr1-floxed mice in which Esr1 in Sertoli cells were selectively deleted. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated that E2-induced Greb1 expression in Sertoli cells was mediated by binding of ESR1 to estrogen responsive elements. In summary, ligand-dependent nuclear ESR1 was present in mouse Sertoli cells and mediates a classical genomic action of estrogens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of OB/GYN & Women’s Health, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA

    Jing Lin PhD, Jia Zhu MS, Xian Li MD, Shengqiang Li MS & Zhenmin Lei PhD

  2. Division of Life Sciences, Alltech, Nicholasville, KY, USA

    Zijian Lan PhD

  3. Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Jay Ko PhD

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  1. Jing Lin PhD
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Correspondence to Zhenmin Lei PhD.

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Lin, J., Zhu, J., Li, X. et al. Expression of Genomic Functional Estrogen Receptor 1 in Mouse Sertoli Cells. Reprod. Sci. 21, 1411–1422 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719114527355

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