Identification of ERα AF-1 or AF-2 mediated genes in mouse uterus

Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) is a ligand dependent transcription regulator, which contains two transactivation functional domains, AF-1 and AF-2. These activities are regulated differently by the ligands. Specifically, the selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) regulate AF-1 rather than AF-2. It is important to know whether AF-1/AF-2 predominantly regulated genes exist in the tissues for a better understanding of the SERMs functionality. We sought out AF-1 dependent estrogenic genes by using the AF-2 mutated knock-in (KI) mouse model, AF2ERKI. AF2ER is an estrogen-insensitive AF-2 disrupted ERα mutant mouse but unique to this model, AF-1 can be activated by the estrogen-antagonist, fulvestrant (ICI), in vitro and in vivo. The information of ICI-mediated gene expression profile of AF2ERKI could define whether AF-1/AF-2 predominantly regulated genes exist in the tissues. Ovariectomized (OVX) mice were treated with vehicle or chemicals for 6h. Uterus was collected from the 3 mice in each treatment for microarray samples (three biological replicas).