Title: Estrogen receptor alpha somatic mutations Y537S and D538G confer breast cancer endocrine resistance by stabilizing the activating function-2 binding conformation.

Authors: Fanning, Sean W; Mayne, Christopher G; Dharmarajan, Venkatasubramanian; Carlson, Kathryn E; Martin, Teresa A; Novick, Scott J; Toy, Weiyi; Green, Bradley; Panchamukhi, Srinivas; Katzenellenbogen, Benita S; Tajkhorshid, Emad; Griffin, Patrick R; Shen, Yang; Chandarlapaty, Sarat; Katzenellenbogen, John A; Greene, Geoffrey L

Published In Elife, (2016 Feb 02)

Abstract: Somatic mutations in the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) gene (ESR1), especially Y537S and D538G, have been linked to acquired resistance to endocrine therapies. Cell-based studies demonstrated that these mutants confer ERα constitutive activity and antiestrogen resistance and suggest that ligand-binding domain dysfunction leads to endocrine therapy resistance. Here, we integrate biophysical and structural biology data to reveal how these mutations lead to a constitutively active and antiestrogen-resistant ERα. We show that these mutant ERs recruit coactivator in the absence of hormone while their affinities for estrogen agonist (estradiol) and antagonist (4-hydroxytamoxifen) are reduced. Further, they confer antiestrogen resistance by altering the conformational dynamics of the loop connecting Helix 11 and Helix 12 in the ligand-binding domain of ERα, which leads to a stabilized agonist state and an altered antagonist state that resists inhibition.

PubMed ID: 26836308

MeSH Terms: No MeSH terms associated with this publication