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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2026

An Ex vivo Model to Study Hormone Action in the Human Breast
12:31

An Ex vivo Model to Study Hormone Action in the Human Breast

Published on: January 8, 2015

Gene expression patterns in the human breast after pregnancy.

Szilard Asztalos1, Peter H Gann, Meghan K Hayes

  • 1Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 833 South Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

Cancer Prevention Research (Philadelphia, Pa.)
|February 25, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Pregnancy alters normal breast gene expression, with inflammation genes increasing and key hormone receptors decreasing. These changes may explain pregnancy

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 15, 2026

An Ex vivo Model to Study Hormone Action in the Human Breast
12:31

An Ex vivo Model to Study Hormone Action in the Human Breast

Published on: January 8, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genomics
  • Breast Cancer Research

Background:

  • Epidemiologic studies show pregnancy has a time-dependent effect on breast cancer risk, involving periods of increased risk followed by long-term protection.
  • The biological mechanisms underlying these pregnancy-associated risk modifications in normal breast tissue remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate gene expression changes in normal breast tissue associated with pregnancy and involution.
  • To determine if these gene expression alterations are transient or persistent over time post-pregnancy.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a customized gene set in normal breast tissue from nulliparous, recently pregnant (0-2 years), and distantly pregnant (5-10 years) premenopausal women.
  • Utilized laser capture microdissection and real-time PCR arrays (59 pathway-specific genes) on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens.

Main Results:

  • 22% of the selected gene set showed differential regulation between nulliparous and parous women.
  • Inflammation-associated genes were significantly upregulated as a group in parous women compared to nulliparous women.
  • Parous women exhibited reduced expression of estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha), progesterone receptor (PGR), and ERBB2, with increased estrogen receptor-beta (ESR2) expression.

Conclusions:

  • Pregnancy induces significant, lasting changes in normal breast gene expression, including alterations in inflammation and hormone signaling pathways.
  • These findings provide initial insights into the molecular mechanisms mediating the protective effects of pregnancy against breast cancer.
  • Further research is warranted to fully elucidate the role of these gene expression changes in pregnancy-associated breast cancer risk modification.