NEUROENDOCRINE INFLUENCES ON MAMMARY CANCER

描述：这份修订后的续签申请提出了三个具体的 旨在解决褪黑激素在生长和生理中的作用 人乳腺癌的研究：(1)确定受体通路(S)、膜或 核，它介导的生长抑制和内质网调节作用 褪黑素；(2)开始描绘由 褪黑素和维甲酸诱导MCF-7细胞凋亡； 推进褪黑素和维甲酸对细胞凋亡作用的研究 从体外环境到更具生理学意义的体内模型 系统。通过确定褪黑素在乳腺肿瘤发生和发展中的作用 与其他激素途径的相互作用，这些研究将开始定义 激素反应性和激素无反应性的决定因素 它们对乳房的诊断、治疗和预后是至关重要的。 并可能最终为预防癌症提供重要的见解 乳腺癌。

DESCRIPTION: This revised continuation application proposes three specific aims designed to address the role of melatonin in the growth and physiology of human breast cancer: (1) to define the receptor pathway(s), membrane or nuclear, which mediate the growth-inhibitory and ER-modulatory effects of melatonin; (2) to begin to delineate the cellular pathways activated by melatonin and retinoic acid which induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells; and (3) to move our studies of the apoptotic effects of melatonin and retinoic acid from the in vitro setting to a more physiologically relevant in vivo model system. By defining the role of melatonin in mammary tumorigenesis and its interaction with other hormone pathways, these studies will begin to define the determinants of hormone-responsiveness and hormone-unresponsiveness which are critical in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of breast cancer and may ultimately provide important insight into the prevention of breast cancer.