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Global Expression Analysis of Endometrial Cancer Cells in Response to Progesterone Identifies New Therapeutic Targets
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Global Expression Analysis of Endometrial Cancer Cells in Response to Progesterone Identifies New Therapeutic Targets

Kristina W Thiel, Andreea M Newtson, Eric J Devor, Yuping Zhang, Paige K Malmrose, Jianling Bi, Haley A Losh, Suzy Davies, Lane E Smith, Jamie Padilla, …
The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology, Vol.234, 106399
11/2023
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2023.106399
PMCID: PMC11171468
PMID: 37716459
url
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11171468/pdf/nihms-1936054.pdfView
Open Access

Abstract

Progesterone prevents development of endometrial cancers through its receptor (PR) although the molecular mechanisms have yet to be fully characterized. In this study, we performed a global analysis of gene regulation by progesterone using human endometrial cancer cells that expressed PR endogenously or exogenously. We found progesterone strongly inhibits multiple components of the platelet derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), Janus kinase (JAK), signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway through PR. The PDGFR/JAK/STAT pathway signals to control numerous downstream targets including AP-1 transcription factors Fos and Jun. Treatment with inhibitors of the PDGFR/JAK/STAT pathway significantly blocked proliferation in multiple novel patient-derived organoid models of endometrial cancer, and activation of this pathway was found to be a poor prognostic signal for the survival of patients with endometrial cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Our study identifies this pathway as central to the growth-limiting effects of progesterone in endometrial cancer and suggests that inhibitors of PDGFR/JAK/STAT should be considered for future therapeutic interventions.

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