Antibody Probes to Estrogen Receptor-Alpha Transcript-Specific Upstream Peptides: Alternate ER-Alpha Promoter Use and Breast Cancer Etiology/Outcome
Abstract
Positive Estrogen Receptor alpha (ER) status correlates with a reduced incidence of breast cancer recurrence in the first years after resection of tumors, and predicts a favorable response to adjuvant anti-estrogens. ER-protein in breast tumors increases with patient age. The project develops novel antibody reagents to probe the expression of ER from alternate promoters taking advantage of short peptides encoded in regions of the ER mRNAs that are promoter specific and not shared. In the first year we have proof of principal that antibodies can be made against the short upstream peptides but the first generation immunoreagents are neither sensitive enough nor sufficiently specific for either use in evaluating tumors. Studies are proceeding, in line with the original statement of work, to generate stronger immunoreagents. In a complementary area, we have improved our methods for estimation of ER mRNA levels by developing assays which use RealTime PCR' in the Roche LightCycler(TM). These assays reduce amounts of RNA needed for assays, are faster and are more robust.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA407424
Entities
People
- Brian T. Pentecost