Role of Estrogen Receptor-Positive/Negative Ratios in Regulating Breast Cancer

Figure 2

ERα expression (red) in vitro and in vivo. (a) In vitro evaluation of ERα expression in cocultured MDA-MB-231^Trans−ER (ERα+) and MDA-MB-231^WT (ERα−) cells at different ratios and MCF-7 alone group. In the 100% ERα+/ERα− ratio group, ERα protein expression was as high as observed in MCF-7 cells. With decreasing ERα+/ERα− ratio, the expression of ERα protein also decreased gradually. At the 0% ERα+/ERα−ratio group, ERα protein did not express at all. (b) Analysis of ERα gene expression by RT-PCR at different ERα+/ERα− ratio groups in tumor tissue. ERα expression decreased proportionally with decrease in the ERα+/ERα−ratio.

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