RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Effect of Estradiol on Gene Expression Profile in Cynomolgus Macaque Liver: Implications for Drug-Metabolizing Enzymes JF Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO Drug Metab Dispos FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 2003 OP 2007 DO 10.1124/dmd.111.041004 VO 39 IS 11 A1 Yasuhiro Uno A1 Go Kito YR 2011 UL http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/39/11/2003.abstract AB Estrogen regulation of gene expression is essential for physiological function of estrogen-responsive tissues, such as mammary glands, ovaries, and the uterus. In the liver, estrogen is responsible for sex-dependent gene expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes in rodents. However, the influence of estrogen on hepatic gene expression has not been fully investigated in primates, including human. Macaque, including cynomolgus macaque, is an important species for comparative studies aimed at understanding human physiology due to its evolutionary closeness to human. To identify estrogen-responsive genes in primate liver, therefore, hepatic gene expression was compared, by microarray analysis, in ovariectomized cynomolgus macaques treated with estradiol or solvent (control). The analysis identified 98 estradiol-responsive genes; 47 and 51 were up- and down-regulated by estradiol, respectively (≥2.0-fold, P < 0.05). Expression of drug-metabolizing enzyme genes was also influenced by estradiol treatment; estradiol enhanced expression of GSTM5 (3.8-fold, P < 0.05) and CYP3A8(4) (2.7-fold, P < 0.01), but lowered expression of CYP4F12 (2.2-fold, P < 0.01), as verified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In particular, CYP3A8(4), orthologous to human CYP3A4, is an essential drug-metabolizing enzyme in cynomolgus macaque liver. These results suggest that expression of hepatic genes, including drug-metabolizing enzyme genes, is at least partly regulated by estradiol in cynomolgus macaque.