Analysis of molecular evolution of sex steroid hormone receptors

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Estrogens are necessary for ovarian differentiation in most vertebrates including human. Estrogen actions are largely mediated through the estrogen receptors (ERs), which are hormone activated transcription factors. To understand the molecular evolution of ER, we tried to isolate cDNAs encoding ERs from amphioxus, ancient fishes, and other species. We found that amphioxus that is an invertebrate has already possessed the ER gene. Our functional analyses suggest that the function of ER as a hormone-dependent transcription factor might be gained through the evolutionary process.