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Estradiol

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 122 Accesses

Definition

E2 (estradiol) or estradiol-17β is biologically the most active estrogen, and circulating estrogens are mainly originated from ovarian steroidogenesis in premenopausal women and peripheral aromatization of ovarian and adrenal androgens in postmenopausal women.

Characteristics

Mechanism of Action

It is generally accepted that the biological activities of estrogens are mediated by nuclear estrogen receptors (ER) which, upon activation by cognate ligands, form homodimers with another ER–ligand complex and activate the transcription of specific genes containing the estrogen response elements (ERE). According to this classical model, the biological responses to estrogens are mediated by either of the two estrogen receptors, ERα and ERβ. The presence of ERα in target tissues or cells is essential to their responsiveness to estrogen action. The expression levels of ERα in a particular tissue have been used as an index of the degree of estrogen responsiveness. For example, human brea...

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References

  • Chakravarti D, Mailander P, Franzen J et al (1998) Detection of dibenzo[a, l]pyrene-induced H-ras codon 61 mutant genes in preneoplastic SENCAR mouse skin using a new PCR-RFLP method. Oncogene 16:3203–3210

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  • Hu Y-F, Russo IH, Russo J (2001) Estrogen and human breast cancer. In: Matzler M (ed) Endocrine disruptors. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 1–26

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  • Jefcoate CR, Liehr JG, Santen RJ et al (2000) Tissue-specific synthesis and oxidative metabolism of estrogens. In: Cavalieri E, Rogan E (eds) JNCI monograph 27: estrogens as endogenous carcinogens in the breast and prostate. Oxford Press, Oxford, pp 95–112

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  • Liehr JG (2000) Is estradiol a genotoxic mutagenic carcinogen? Endocr Rev 21:40–54

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  • Russo J, Russo IH (2000) Biological and molecular basis of breast cancer. Springer, Heidelberg

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Breast Cancer Research Laboratory, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Jose Russo & Irma H. Russo

Authors
  1. Jose Russo
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  2. Irma H. Russo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jose Russo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Russo, J., Russo, I.H. (2015). Estradiol. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_2011-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_2011-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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