Tohoku University · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Professor Yasuhiro Miki's research lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying steroid hormone metabolism and signaling in human cancers, particularly in breast and lung carcinomas. The lab investigates the intratumoral production and regulation of estrogens through key enzymes such as aromatase, steroid sulfatase, and estrogen sulfotransferase, with a special emphasis on their roles in tumor progression and therapy resistance. Using advanced techniques like laser capture microdissection and quantitative RT-PCR, the lab explores the cellular localization and functional significance of these enzymes and receptors in tumor microenvironments. The research also extends to nuclear receptors like SXR/hPXR, examining their roles in drug metabolism and chemoresistance in cancer.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Estrogens play a key role in various target tissues. Enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and metabolism of these sex steroids also regulate estrogenic actions in these tissues. Estrone sulfate (E1S) is a major circulating plasma estrogen that is converted into the biologically active estrogen, estrone (E1), by steroid sulfatase (STS). E1 is also sulfated and reverted into E1S by estrogen sulfotransferase (EST). These two enzymes have recently been shown to play important roles in the in situ es
Steroid and xenobiotic receptor (SXR) or human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) has been shown to play an important role in the regulation of genes related to xenobiotic detoxification, such as cytochrome P450 3A4 and multidrug resistance gene 1. Cytochrome P450 enzymes, conjugation enzymes, and transporters are all considered to be involved in the resistance of breast carcinoma to chemotherapeutic or endocrine agents. However, the expression of SXR/hPXR proteins and that of its target genes and their
Aromatase is a key enzyme in intratumoral estrogen production required for the production of estrogens through the conversion of serum androgens in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. There have been, however, controversies regarding the intratumoral localization of aromatase in human breast carcinoma tissues. Therefore, we have first examined the intratumoral localization of aromatase mRNA/protein in 19 breast carcinomas using laser capture microdissection/quantitative reverse transcription-
Estrogens produced as a result of intratumoral aromatization has been recently shown to play important roles in proliferation of human non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC), but the details have remained largely unknown. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the possible roles of intratumoral aromatase in NSCLCs as follows: (a) evaluation of intratumoral localization of aromatase mRNA/protein in six lung adenocarcinoma cases using laser capture microdissection combined with quantitative revers
Open papers in the app to read, cite, and organize with AI.
