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Definition
Estrogen receptors are represented by two main members (estrogen receptor alpha, ERα, and estrogen receptor beta, ERβ), which bind estrogens. These receptors are mainly nuclear, even though membrane receptors are also suspected to exist. Nuclear estrogen receptors belong to a large family of nuclear receptors, which are ligand-activated transcription factors able to modulate the expression of different genes.
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History
The mediators of estrogens, namely, estrogen receptors, remained elusive until the synthesis of radiolabeled estradiolby Jensen and Jacobsen in 1960, which allowed the identification of such receptors. But it took more than 20 years, with the development at a high rate of molecular biology techniques, to have the first cDNA encoding estrogen receptor (α) cloned by the group of Chambon in Strasbourg. In 1996, when most of nuclear receptors had already been cloned, a great...
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References
Deroo BJ, Korach KS (2006) Estrogen receptors and human disease. J Clin Invest 116:561–570
Jensen EV (2005) The contribution of “alternative approaches” to understanding steroid hormone action. Mol Endocrinol 19:1439–1442
Levin ER (2005) Integration of the extranuclear and nuclear actions of estrogen. Mol Endocrinol 19:1951–1959
See Also
(2012) Coactivators. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 886. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1238
(2012) Estrogens. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 1333. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2019
(2012) Nuclear Receptor. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2571. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4157
(2012) Transcription Factor. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 3752. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5901
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Lazennec, G. (2014). Estrogen Receptor. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_2014-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_2014-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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