Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Nearly 30% of breast cancers are hormone-dependent, and these hormones comprising estrogens influence progression of breast cancers. It is now widely recognized that p53 may be the most frequently mutated protein in breast cancer. High levels of p53 protein are a common feature of many human malignant cancers. Given that, T47D cell line is estrogen and progesterone receptor positive and p53 protein is one of the most important tumor suppressor genes. This article examines the effect of estrogen on p53 protein in T47D.

Methods: The human breast cancer T47D cell line were cultured in 25cm2 flasks in DMEM medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum (FBS) and treated with different concentrations (3, 6, and 9 nmol) of estrogen. The levels of proteins were measured by western blot method. Gene tool software and One Way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis.

Results: Comparison of p53 levels in T47D cell line showed that cells that were exposed to 3, 6, and9 nmol of estrogen treatment had higher concentration of p53 than control (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The results showed that estrogen can strongly increase p53 protein concentration in T47D cell line. Therefore, it seems that estrogen can cause protein over expression and accumulation in T47D cell line.