In the diamondback terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin, males hatch at incubation temperatures below 28 degrees C whereas females hatch at temperatures above 30 degrees C. When estrogen is applied to the eggs at male temperatures early in development, females are produced. These data suggest that the enzyme necessary for estrogen synthesis (CYP19, aromatase) in the developing gonad plays a critical r...

This study aimed to examine the differences in the morphological properties and proliferation of olfactory ensheathing cells in three-dimensional culture on collagen-heparan sulfate biological scaffolds and in two-dimensional culture on common flat culture plates. The proliferation rate of olfactory ensheathing cells in three-dimensional culture was higher than that in two-dimensional culture, ...

PURPOSE Mammographic breast density (MBD) is decreased by tamoxifen, but the effect of aromatase inhibitors is less clear. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We enrolled early-stage postmenopausal patients with breast cancer initiating adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy and ascertained mammograms before and at an average 10 months of aromatase inhibitor therapy. We matched cases to healthy postmenopausal ...

Epidemiological and experimental evidence strongly supports a role for estrogens in the development and growth of breast tumors. A role for estrogen in prostate neoplasia has also been postulated. Therefore, one chemopreventive strategy for breast and prostate cancers is to decrease estrogen production. This can be accomplished by inhibiting aromatase, the enzyme that catalyzes the final, rate-...

aromatase inhibitors have been used as a second line therapy after tamoxifen, in estrogen-receptor positive (er+) women to reduce estrogen concentration in plasma and breast tumors. it has been shown that benzofuran(phenylmethyl)imidazoles are potent aromatase inhibitors at nano-molar concentrations, about 1000 times more potent than aminoglutetimide. in this study, cytotoxic activity of some o...

Aromatase, a cytochrome P-450 enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of androgens to estrogens, is the major mechanism of estrogen synthesis in the post-menopausal woman. We review some of the recent scientific advances which shed light on the biologic significance, physiology, expression and regulation of aromatase in breast tissue. Inhibition of aromatase, the terminal step in estrogen biosynth...

We examined the expression of candidate sex-determining genes in the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) during the temperature-sensitive period (TSP). Aromatase and Rspo1 were used as markers of ovarian differentiation and Sox9 was used as a marker of testicular differentiation. Eggs were incubated at a male-producing temperature (26 °C or MPT) and a female-producing temperature (31 °C...

Granulosa cell tumors are representative of estrogenic ovarian tumors, and some Sertoli-stromal cell tumors are also estrogenic. The exact cells that are responsible for estrogenesis, however, have yet to be identified. In the present study, 25 sex cord-stromal tumors (20 granulosa cell tumors, 4 Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors, and a Sertoli cell tumor) were immunohistochemically examined for expre...

Aromatase is the enzyme synthesizing estrogens from androgens. In estrogen-dependent breast tumors, estrogens induce the expression of growth factors responsible for cancer cell proliferation. In situ estrogen synthesis by aromatase "is thought to play a key role in the promotion of breast cancer growth. Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) provide new approaches for the prevention and treatment of breas...