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Human umbilical vascular endothelial cells express estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) and progesterone receptor A (PR-A), but not ERα and PR-B

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Abstract

Several reports deal with possible effects of female sex hormones on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) including elasticity, activation of plasma membrane Na+/H+ exchange, VEGF receptor Flk-1/KDR and many others. In contrast to those findings, some publications pointed out that HUVEC lack expression of both the estrogen receptor (ER) and/or the progesterone receptor (PR). Because the majority of these investigations were carried out at a time period, when only one ER and one PR was known, the aim of this study was the systematic analysis of ERα and ERβ as well as PR-A and PR-B expression in HUVEC with specific monoclonal antibodies by immunocytochemistry and quantitative RT-PCR (TaqMan). As a result, we could show that HUVEC lack ERα but express ERβ. The expression of ERβ could be significantly upregulated with 17β-estradiol on mRNA and protein level. In addition, HUVEC express PR-A but not PR-B. PR-A expression could be significantly upregulated with progesterone, again on mRNA and protein level. We conclude that estrogenic effects on HUVEC are mediated via the ERβ and gestagens act via the PR-A pathway.

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Acknowledgments

This work is part of the doctoral thesis of Gitti Saadat. Bettina Toth was supported by “Friedrich Baur-Stiftung”, “Förderung für Forschung und Lehre” (FöFoLe), “Hochschul-Wissenschafts Programm” and “LMUexcellent Mentoring Programm”, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. We gratefully acknowledge the following colleagues: (1) from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology- Maistrasse, Ludwig-Maximilians-University: Susanne Kunze and Christina Kuhn for technical assistance, (2) from the Department of Internal Medicine III, Großhadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University: Verena Pihusch and Marius Penovici for helpful discussion concerning HUVEC cell culture

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Großhadern, Ludwig-Maximilians University, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Bettina Toth, Gitti Saadat, Alrun Geller & Klaus Friese

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Innenstadt, Maistrasse, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Maistrasse 11, 80337, Munich, Germany

    Gitti Saadat, Alrun Geller, Christoph Scholz, Sandra Schulze, Klaus Friese & Udo Jeschke

Authors
  1. Bettina Toth
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  2. Gitti Saadat
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  3. Alrun Geller
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  4. Christoph Scholz
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  5. Sandra Schulze
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  6. Klaus Friese
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  7. Udo Jeschke
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Correspondence to Udo Jeschke.

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Toth, B., Saadat, G., Geller, A. et al. Human umbilical vascular endothelial cells express estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) and progesterone receptor A (PR-A), but not ERα and PR-B. Histochem Cell Biol 130, 399–405 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-008-0426-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-008-0426-7

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