Elsevier

Steroids

Volume 68, Issue 1, January 2003, Pages 1-9
Steroids

Review
Estrogen receptor phosphorylation

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-128X(02)00110-1Get rights and content

Abstract

Estrogen receptor α (ERα) is phosphorylated on multiple amino acid residues. For example, in response to estradiol binding, human ERα is predominately phosphorylated on Ser-118 and to a lesser extent on Ser-104 and Ser-106. In response to activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, phosphorylation occurs on Ser-118 and Ser-167. These serine residues are all located within the activation function 1 region of the N-terminal domain of ERα. In contrast, activation of protein kinase A increases the phosphorylation of Ser-236, which is located in the DNA-binding domain. The in vivo phosphorylation status of Tyr-537, located in the ligand-binding domain, remains controversial. In this review, I present evidence that these phosphorylations occur, and identify the kinases thought to be responsible. Additionally, the functional importance of ERα phosphorylation is discussed.

Section snippets

Overview

This review will focus on the major phosphorylation sites in estrogen receptor α (ERα) that occur in response to either estradiol or through the activation of second messenger signaling pathways. The following questions will be addressed: (1) What are the sites of ER phosphorylation and which kinases are responsible for these phosphorylations? (2) How does phosphorylation influence ER function? (3) What is known about ER phosphatases? (4) How does estradiol directly influence signal

Acknowledgements

I thank Margaret Shupnik for helpful discussions and critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by Research Project Grant #TBE-97523 from the American Cancer Society.

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