Dr. Sergio Abonante Chirurgo Senologo
G-Protein–Coupled Receptor 30 and Estrogen Receptor-α Are Involved in the Proliferative Effects Induced by Atrazine in Ovarian Cancer Cells
METHODS AND RESULTS: Atrazine did not transactivate the endogenous ERα in different cancer cell contexts or chimeric proteins encoding the ERα and ERβ hormone-binding domain in gene reporter assays. Moreover, atrazine neither regulated the expression of ERα nor stimulated aromatase activity. Interestingly, atrazine induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation and the expression of estrogen target genes. Using specific signaling inhibitors and gene silencing, we demonstrated that atrazine stimulated the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells through the GPR30–epidermal growth factor receptor transduction pathway and the involvement of ERα.