One of the most consistent results in the epidemiology of human breast cancer is the inverse relationship of risk and early full-term parity. The goal of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms through which early full-term pregnancy protects the breast from cancer development. We used Wistar-Furth (WF) rats as our experimental system and mimicked pregnancy using estrogen and progesterone (E/P). Sexually mature female rats were treated with steroid hormones for 21 days and after 28 days of gland involution, the rats were administered MNU. Rats that received a high dose of 20 microg E and 20 mg P exhibited an 82% reduction in the incidence of mammary adenocarcinomas as compared to the rats receiving only blank pellets. Decreasing doses of E/P were partially protective suggesting that complete differentiation of the gland was not required for refractoriness. We measured the RNA expression levels of several target genes involved in the regulation of mammary cell proliferation and/or differentiation including estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), cyclins D1 and D2, the cell cycle inhibitors p16, p21 and p27, and the tumor suppressor p53. At the time of MNU treatment we found no significant differences in the expression of these genes, with the possible exception of p21, indicating that hormone treatment did not result in constitutive changes in expression levels. The numbers of apoptotic cells were low and comparable in the hormone exposed and age-matched virgin gland (AMV) at the time of carcinogen challenge and remained low for 8 days after MNU treatment. The number of BrdU-labeled cells at the time of carcinogen challenge were also low in both the AMV (1.8%) and hormone exposed (0.8%) animals. In contrast, cell proliferation in the AMV (5.7%) was significantly different from both the parous involuted (1.2%) and the E/P-treated involuted (1.5%) animals 8 days after MNU treatment. We interpret these data to indicate that hormone treatment results in mammary epithelial cells that have persistent alterations in intracellular pathways governing proliferation responses to carcinogens.

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Housing adult rats on ground corncob bedding impedes male and female mating behavior and causes acyclicity in females. The suppressive effects on ovarian cyclicity are mimicked by a mitogenic agent purified from the ground corncob bedding material (corn mitogen; CM), which stimulates the proliferation of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (MCF-7 cells) and ER-negative (MDA-MD-231 cells) breast cancer cells. Purified CM does not compete for [(3)H]estradiol binding to ER or nuclear type II sites, and its effects on MCF-7 breast cancer cell proliferation are not blocked by the antiestrogen ICI-182,780. These results suggest that the active component is unlikely to be a phytoestrogen, bioflavonoid, mycotoxin, or other known endocrine-disrupting agent that modifies cell growth via ER or type II [(3)H]estradiol binding sites. CM also stimulates the proliferation of PC-3 human prostatic cancer cells in vitro, and the growth rate of PC-3 cell xenografts is accelerated in nude male mice housed on ground corncob as opposed to pure cellulose bedding. Consequently, this endocrine-disrupting agent in ground corncob bedding may influence behavioral and physiologic reproductive response profiles and malignant cell proliferation in experimental animals. Fresh corn (kernels and cob) or corn tortillas also contain CM, indicating that human exposure is likely; consequently, CM and/or related mitogens in corn products may influence human health and development.

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Estrogen administration to mature-ovariectomized rats causes the activation or stimulation of secondary nuclear estrogen-binding sites (type II) in the uterus which can interfere with estrogen receptor (type I) measurement. Earlier reports from our laboratory have shown that quantitation of type I sites in the presence of the type II site is very difficult and can only be achieved by graphic analysis of saturation curves which employ a wide range (0.4-40 NM) of [3H]estradiol concentrations in nuclear exchange assay. The studies presented in this manuscript describe simple methods which can be used to separately quantitate both nuclear estrogen-binding sites using a single concentration of [3H]estradiol. Since the nuclear type II site does not bind [3H]estradiol in the presence of reducing agent, type I sites can be easily quantitated by incubating nuclei (37 C for 30 min) in Tris-EDTA buffer containing 0.1-1.00 mM dithiothreitol using a single saturating concentration of [3H]estradiol. Conversely, a single concentration of [3H]estradiol (40-80 nM) can be used to quantitate the nuclear type II site by incubating nuclei in Tris-EDTA buffer under conditions (4 C for 60 min) which do not measure occupied nuclear estrogen receptor. Therefore, by using the appropriate buffer system, type I and type II sites can be easily separated in mixed binding systems. In addition, we also demonstrate that Nafoxidine does not bind to the nuclear type II site. Therefore, it can be used as a competitive inhibitor of [3H]estradiol binding to type I sites and permit the measurement of type II sites without interference from type I sites. These techniques should be applicable to autoradiographic or fluorescence studies which cannot discriminate between steroid binding to these two classes of nuclear estrogen-binding sites.

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Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated that high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of ground corncob bedding extracts characterized two components (peak I and peak II) that disrupted endocrine function in male and female rats and stimulated breast and prostate cancer cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. The active substances in peak I were identified as an isomeric mixture of 9,12-oxy-10,13-dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid and 10,13-oxy-9,12-dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid, collectively designated tetrahydrofurandiols (THF-diols). Studies presented here describe the purification and identification of the HPLC peak II component as 9,10-dihydroxy-12-octadecenoic acid (leukotoxin diol; LTX-diol), a well-known leukotoxin. A synthetic mixture of LTX-diol and 12,13-dihydroxy-9-octadecenoic acid (isoleukotoxin diol; i-LTX-diol) isomers was separated by HPLC, and each isomer stimulated (p < 0.001) MCF-7 cell proliferation in an equivalent fashion. The LTX-diol isomers failed to compete for [3H]estradiol binding to the estrogen receptor or nuclear type II sites, even though oral administration of very low doses of these compounds (>> 0.8 mg/kg body weight/day) disrupted estrous cyclicity in female rats. The LTX-diols did not disrupt male sexual behavior, suggesting that sex differences exist in response to these endocrine-disruptive agents.