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Updated: May 26, 2026

Prediction and Validation of Gene Regulatory Elements Activated During Retinoic Acid Induced Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation
Published on: June 21, 2016
Retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) expression in breast
N Ditsch1, T Vrekoussis, M Lenhard
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Grosshadern Campus, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Background/Aim:
The role of retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) in breast cancer has been well studied in vitro. The aim of the study was to assess the presence of these molecules in human breast cancer specimens and correlate them with major clinicopathological features.
Patients And Methods:
Tissue sections from 82 breast cancer cases clustered according to histological grade, lymph node (LN) and hormone receptor (HR) status were assessed by immunohistochemistry for RXRα and PPARγ.
Results:
RXRα was found to be strongly and moderately expressed in 11 (14.10%) and 33 (42.31%) cases, respectively. PPARγ was found to be strongly and moderately expressed in 33 (41.25%) and 25 (31.25%) cases, respectively. Only RXRα expression was inversely correlated with histological grade. Surprisingly, significantly elevated PPARγ expression was found in cases with positive LN status. Survival analysis did not yield significant results.
Conclusion:
Our data support the current thesis of RXRα being a potential target for feature molecular interventions.
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