Estrone modulates the EGF receptor in the liver of db/db mouse

The genetically diabetic db/db mouse is an excellent model to study the effect of diabetes on hormone receptors. The decrease of EGF binding sites could be detected in the hepatic microsomes of diabetic mice as early as 3 weeks of age. In addition, there was an age-related decrease in the autophosphorylating activity of EGF receptor isolated from the liver of diabetic mice. Estrone feeding (0.005%) partially restored this autophosphorylating activity. Northern blot analysis showed that the hepatic EGF receptor transcripts were dramatically decreased during the progression of diabetes and could be reversed by estrone feeding. Transfection experiments carried out on HepG2 cells using EGF receptor promoter (pERCAT-6) demonstrated that addition of 2 x 10(-8) M estrone stimulated chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity. Our results suggest that estrone modulates EGF receptor by enhancing EGF receptor transcripts and the promoter activity of this gene.