Differential activity of diethylstilbestrol versus estradiol as neonatal endocrine disruptors in the female hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) reproductive tract.

The synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a potent neonatal endocrine disruptor in the hamster. To test the specificity of this phenomenon, newborn animals were treated with 100 microgram of either DES or the natural estrogen, estradiol-17beta (E2). Of the two, neonatal DES exposure caused greater morphological disruption throughout the female reproductive tract in prepubertal animals and in adults that either retained their ovaries or were ovariectomized and then given the same levels of chronic E2 stimulation. In the uterus, a characteristic histopathological profile, including enhancement of both hyperplastic and apoptotic activity, was initiated prepubertally and exclusively in the endometrial epithelial cell compartment from the neonatally DES-treated animals and then was promoted by E2 stimulation during adulthood. Interestingly, apoptotic activity was not detected in an area of endometrial epithelium that progressed to the neoplastic state in a DES-exposed animal. Lastly, chronic estrogen induction of lactoferrin was also restricted to the DES-exposed endometrium. We conclude that 1) DES is more active than E2 as a perinatal endocrine disruptor in the hamster and 2) this experimental system should be generally useful as a means to screen compounds for such activity and then probe their mechanism of action.

Effects of neonatal administration of diethylstilbestrol in male hamsters: disruption of reproductive function in adults after apparently normal pubertal development.

Prenatal and neonatal exposure to natural and synthetic estrogens induces developmental abnormalities in the male and female reproductive systems in several species. In hamsters, a single injection of diethylstilbestrol (DES) on the day of birth induces teratogenic and neoplastic changes throughout the female reproductive tract, apparently via a direct mechanism. The present study investigated the extent and specificity of this phenomenon in the male reproductive system. Male golden hamsters received injections of DES or estradiol-17beta (E2; 100 microg/ animal) on the day of birth and were then killed at 42 (pubertal) and 90 (adults) days of age. Blood was collected for serum testosterone analysis, and the testes and accessory organs were weighed and examined histologically. At the pubertal stage, testicular and accessory organ weights plus serum testosterone levels were similar in untreated animals and in both groups of estrogen-treated animals. Also at the pubertal stage, initiation of spermatogenesis appeared normal in both groups of estrogen-treated animals. In contrast, 100% of the DES-treated animals (n = 22) but none of the E2-treated animals exhibited multiple lesions in the reproductive tract as adults. These DES-induced lesions included cryptorchidism with the testes attached to the abdominal wall, solid testicular tumors, multiple epididymal cysts, and involution of accessory organs. Spermatogenesis was disrupted in the seminiferous tubules, with no developing germ cells, and the interstitial cells were organized as a sheath around the dysfunctional tubules. The epididymis had an involuted epithelial layer with a preponderance of multi-nucleated cells, and seminal vesicle morphology was also abnormal. These DES-specific alterations were not accompanied by any significant change in circulating testosterone levels. We therefore conclude that 1) DES is much more potent that E2 as a neonatal endocrine disrupter in the male hamster, and 2) the DES-specific lesions in the adult male reproductive tract may represent a permanently altered androgen responsiveness in the affected target tissues.

Endometrial hyperplasia and apoptosis following neonatal diethylstilbestrol exposure and subsequent estrogen stimulation in both host and transplanted hamster uteri.

Prenatal exposure to the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) causes morphogenetic alterations and neoplasia in the human reproductive tract. In the hamster, neonatal DES exposure alters early uterine morphogenesis and induces endometrial adenocarcinomas in adults. We now demonstrate that the preneoplastic stages of this phenomenon in the hamster reflect an abnormal uterotropic response to estrogen that is characterized by hyperplastic lesions in the endometrial epithelium and includes an immune and/or inflammatory component. Interestingly, biochemical and in situ analysis revealed that the hyperplastic epithelium is also an active site of cell death by apoptosis. To further probe the mechanism of this phenomenon, uteri from 7-day-old control or DES-exposed donors were transplanted into the cheek pouches of control or neonatally DES-exposed adult hosts, and both host groups were treated to provide high circulating levels of estradiol. Among the four ectopic scenarios, histopathological lesions (epithelial hyperplasia, dysplasia, and apoptosis), segregated almost exclusively to the two that consisted of neonatally DES-exposed uteri. The virtual absence of lesions in control uteri transplanted to DES hosts eliminated host systemic factors as causative agents. Therefore, we conclude that DES or its metabolites alter the cellular physiology and/or composition of the developing uterus (initiating event) in such a way that it thereafter responds abnormally to estrogenic stimulation (promoting event). These observations serve to further define a unique experimental system for probing: (a) various aspects of the clinical "DES Syndrome"; (b) how estrogen regulates normal uterine growth and morphogenesis; and (c) how this process can degenerate to the unregulated neoplastic state.

Neonatal diethylstilbestrol treatment alters the estrogen-regulated expression of both cell proliferation and apoptosis-related proto-oncogenes (c-jun, c-fos, c-myc, bax, bcl-2, and bcl-x) in the hamster uterus.

In the Syrian hamster, neonatal diethylstilbestrol (DES) treatment and then postpubertal estrogen stimulation induces hyperplasia plus apoptosis (preneoplastic responses) and ultimately neoplasia in the endometrial epithelial cell compartment. As part of a project to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon, expression of several proto-oncogenes (c-jun, c-fos, c-myc, bax, bcl-2 and bcl-x) was compared in estrogen-stimulated uteri from control versus neonatally DES-treated hamsters. According to Northern blot analysis of total uterine RNA, levels of the 3.2-kb c-jun and 2.4-kb c-myc transcripts were not altered by neonatal DES treatment. However, the 1.0 kb bax and 2.7 kb bcl-x transcript levels were significantly increased in the neonatally DES-exposed uteri. According to immunohistochemical analysis of paraformaldehyde-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections, levels of c-Jun, c-Fos, c-Myc, Bax, and Bcl-x proteins were enhanced dramatically in both the luminal and glandular epithelial cells of neonatally DES-exposed uteri. In contrast, the immunostaining signal for Bcl-2 protein was decreased consistently in the epithelial cells of neonatally DES-exposed uteri. In conclusion, neonatal DES treatment induced persistent and epithelial cell-specific imbalances in the estrogen-regulated uterine expression of c-jun, c-fos, c-myc, bax, bcl-2, and bcl-x proto-oncogenes. These imbalances likely play a role in the molecular mechanism by which neonatal DES treatment induces altered estrogen responsiveness including hyperplasia, apoptosis, and ultimately neoplasia in the epithelial compartment of the hamster uterus.

An analysis of autologous glucocorticoid receptor protein regulation in AtT-20 cells also reveals differential specificity of the BuGR2 monoclonal antibody.

When the anti-glucocorticoid receptor monoclonal antibody (BuGR2) was initially incorporated either into a new immunoassay strategy or into a traditional sedimentation analysis technique, both methods failed to reveal any change in the cellular content or distribution of BuGR2-reactive antigen following glucocorticoid treatment of AtT-20 cells. Furthermore, the immunoassay also generated strong positive signals with cytosol and nuclear extracts from a receptor-negative cell line (E8.2) derived from L929 cells. However, when the BuGR2 antibody was incorporated into a combined immunoprecipitation/Western blot analysis of AtT-20 cell extracts, only the glucocorticoid receptor protein produced a signal on the Western blot, even though other proteins had been specifically immunoprecipitated by BuGR2 antibody and were clearly present on the Western blot membrane. Applying the latter approach to AtT-20 cells chronically treated with glucocorticoid, we observed not only that the receptor protein rapidly and persistently (1-96 h) accumulated in the nucleus, but also that its total cellular content was first depleted (24 h) and then was progressively replenished (48-96 h). From these studies in AtT-20 cells we conclude: (i), the BuGR2 antibody can exhibit differential immunospecificity dependent upon whether antigen mixtures are denatured or not; (ii), glucocorticoid receptor protein resided almost exclusively in the nucleus during four days of glucocorticoid treatment and (iii), the same treatment regimen resulted in total receptor protein levels being regulated in a biphasic pattern. Together, these results suggest that receptor regulation in AtT-20 cells is a complex event, and that, since steroid was constantly present during our experiments, other factors are involved in regulation of receptor levels.

Altered morphogenesis of the immature hamster uterus following neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol.

In previous studies, we found that a single neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) resulted in severe hyperplasia and a high incidence of endometrial adenocarcinoma in the uterus of adult hamsters. These observations prompted us to investigate the consequences of DES exposure on earlier stages of uterine morphogenesis. After neonates were treated within 6 h of birth (day 1) with 100 micrograms of DES or oil vehicle, uterine tissue morphometry plus cell labelling indices following in vivo pulse labeling with [3H]thymidine were determined on days 3-21 of life. The sequential findings were: (1) a precocious (day 3) burst of cellular proliferation throughout the uterus, (2) an early period (days 3-9) of hypertrophy and increased cell density in the luminal epithelium, (3) an extreme acceleration of uterine growth resulting in a persistent increase in total uterine mass (> threefold enhancement on days 5-21), (4) precocious development of endometrial glands (day 9) that were sites of intense but transient proliferative activity, (5) a middle period (days 9-15) when the percentage of stromal cells engaged in proliferative activity was reduced, (6) a second wave (days 15-21) of enhanced proliferative activity in the luminal epithelium, and (7) later development (day 21) of reduced cell density in the uterine stroma, apparently due to increased intercellular collagen accumulation. These results support our working hypothesis that the acute uterotropic response to neonatal DES treatment initiates a change in the developing hamster uterus, and later estrogenic stimulation promotes neoplastic progression in the DES-altered adult organ, perhaps due to disruption of stromal-epithelial interactions.

The hamster cheek pouch as a convenient ectopic site for studies of uterine morphogenesis and endocrine responsiveness.

The Syrian hamster cheek pouch was evaluated as a convenient transplantation site for studies of estrogen-dependent uterine growth and morphogenesis. At one month of age, hosts were either ovariectomized (Ovex) or ovariectomized and estrogen implanted (Ovex+E2), and at the same time the uterus from a 7-day old untreated donor was transplanted into the host's right cheek pouch. Periodic inspection (by simple eversion of the pouch) revealed viable transplants in the majority of hosts for both groups, and clear evidence of estrogen-dependent transplant growth that continued for at least 9 months. At that time, weight of the transplanted uterus was comparable to that of a given host's own in situ uterus, but uteri at both sites weighed six to eightfold more in Ovex+E2 hosts than in Ovex hosts. Histological analysis also revealed similar degrees of endometrial atrophy in Ovex hosts and hypertrophy/hyperplasia in Ovex+E2 hosts for both in situ and transplanted uteri. Furthermore, while only scant and rudimentary endometrial glands developed in both in situ and transplanted uteri within Ovex hosts, uteri at both sites within the Ovex+E2 hosts were riddled with cystic glandular structures and exhibited marked leukocytic infiltration. These data demonstrate that neonatal uteri transplanted to the hamster cheek pouch will grow, differentiate and follow an endocrine-responsive morphogenetic program that is quantitatively and qualitatively consistent with that of the host's in situ uterus. Lastly, we were able to cleanly separate epithelium from the stroma of 5-day old hamster uteri, reassociate the two tissues in vitro, transplant the recombinants into cheek pouches of adult female hamsters and subsequently observe growth and maintenance of a generally normal uterine morphology and differentiated function.

Selective loss of glucocorticoid-dependent responses in a variant of the DDT1MF-2 tumor cell line.

Glucocorticoid treatment dramatically inhibits growth of the wild-type DDT1MF-2 hamster smooth muscle tumor cell line (DDT-WT) but not that of a glucocorticoid-selected clonal variant (DDT-GR). Our objective was to further define the level of glucocorticoid resistance in DDT-GR cells. Glucocorticoid receptors were confirmed to be less abundant in DDT-GR cells, but the immunoreactivity and molecular dimensions of the receptor and the ability of the receptor to undergo ligand-dependent nuclear accumulation was the same as that in DDT-WT cells. Glucocorticoid treatment also stimulated expression of the beta 2-adrenergic receptor gene to the same extent (approximately 2-fold at the mRNA and membrane protein level) in both cell lines. With the exception of the previously identified p29 protein, the pattern of detectably altered protein synthesis during glucocorticoid treatment was identical in both cell lines. All of the above responses that were shared by DDT-WT and DDT-GR cells as well as growth inhibition and p29 induction which are restricted to the DDT-WT cell could be blocked by the antiglucocorticoid, 17 beta-hydroxy-11 beta-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-17 alpha-propynylestra- 4,9-dien-3-one. Together, these data indicate that DDT-GR cells contain enough functional glucocorticoid receptors to successfully regulate most of the normally responsive genes. Exploitation of this fact should greatly facilitate efforts to identify and study the function of those genes that are specifically involved in the antiproliferative action of glucocorticoid on the DDT-WT cell.

Isolation of a genomic sublibrary enriched for glucocorticoid-regulated genes.

Glucocorticoids regulate gene expression by causing the glucocorticoid receptor to bind to an enhancer-like DNA element termed the glucocorticoid regulatory element (GRE). The resultant effect on transcription of specific genes causes a cascade of intracellular events that determines the growth or differentiated function of the target tissue. Although virtually all animal tissues respond to glucocorticoids, it has proven difficult to elucidate the molecular events which underlie physiologically important glucocorticoid effects such as lymphocyte death or poor wound healing. In this paper, a tryptic fragment of the glucocorticoid receptor (17K-GR) is shown to bind selectively to DNA containing a GRE. When a mixture of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) long terminal repeat (LTR) region and plasmid vector DNA was extracted using the intact glucocorticoid receptor or the 17K-GR, the 17K-GR retained a greater proportion of LTR vs. plasmid DNA. The 17K-GR-LTR complex was also more resistant to salt extraction. Extraction of Bam HI-digested mouse genomic DNA resulted in enrichment of the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene 5' fragment (which contains a GRE) vs. the 3' fragment which does not. A mouse genomic phage library was enriched for GRE-containing sequences by extraction using the 17K-GR. The frequency of POMC-positive plaques was determined to gauge enrichment of down-regulated genes, and the frequency of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxy-kinase-positive plaques was determined to gauge enrichment of up-regulated genes. The frequencies obtained (1.2 x 10(-3) and 3.5 x 10(-3), respectively) indicated that a family of glucocorticoid-regulated genes totaling approximately 300 had been isolated in a genomic sublibrary.

The mouse glucocorticoid receptor DNA-binding domain is not phosphorylated in vivo.

The glucocorticoid receptor is phosphorylated, but the precise location of the phosphorylated groups is unknown. We cultured AtT-20 cells in medium containing [32P]-orthophosphate and used immunoaffinity methods to isolate the intact receptor and a tryptic fragment containing the DNA binding domain. Analysis of the intact receptor, co-labeled with the affinity ligand dexamethasone-mesylate, confirmed that the receptor was phosphorylated. Isolation of the DNA binding domain by trypsinization and immunopurification showed that it was not phosphorylated. Interestingly, a non-immunoreactive phosphorylated fragment similar in size to the DNA-binding fragment was observed. Our results suggest that phosphorylation of the DNA binding domain of the glucocorticoid receptor is not essential for hormone action.

Analysis of the disruptive action of an epididymal protease and the stabilizing influence of molybdate on nondenatured and denatured glucocorticoid receptor.

The nucleomyofibrillar fraction of epididymides from sexually mature rabbits contains a novel leupeptin-sensitive protease that disrupts the oligomeric conformation of cytosolic estrogen and progesterone receptors, and molybdate inhibits this process. In this report we used the AtT-20 cell glucocorticoid receptor as substrate and performed analyses under nondenaturing vs. denaturing conditions to further investigate the effects of the epididymal protease and molybdate on steroid receptor structure. Analysis on low salt sucrose gradients indicated that the protease partially converted the oligomeric (9-10S) glucocorticoid receptor to several more slowly sedimenting forms (3-7S), and this effect was not observed in the presence of molybdate. Paradoxically, gradient analysis under high salt conditions revealed that the protease induced a discrete, quantitative and molybdate-insensitive conversion of the 4-5S steroid-binding subunit to a 3S form. Further studies were done using denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of receptor that had been labeled covalently with [3H]dexamethasone 21-mesylate and partially purified by DNA/cellulose chromatography. At 0-4 C, the protease cleaved the steroid-binding subunit (mol wt, 96,900) of the receptor to a single steroid-labeled fragment (mol wt, 42,600). Under these conditions, digestion was complete within 30-60 min and was inhibited by leupeptin, but was unaffected by thiol-reactive reagents or molybdate. The epididymal protease and alpha-chymotrypsin produced steroid-labeled receptor fragments that were indistinguishable in size, shared an epitope recognized by our BuGR-2 monoclonal antibody, and retained DNA-binding activity. Despite the apparent similarity of these two enzymes, they are distinct, since the chymotrypsin-dependent cleavage event was not inhibited by leupeptin. These studies show that the epididymal protease attacks a site on the steroid-binding subunit of glucocorticoid receptors as well as estrogen and progestin receptors. It also appears that the cleavage site is situated close to that most readily attacked by alpha-chymotrypsin. Finally, our data provide independent confirmation of a recent report indicating that molybdate ions interact directly with the cytosolic steroid receptor to stabilize its oligomeric structure even after proteolysis within the steroid-binding subunit.

Further characterization of a steroid receptor-active protease from the mature rabbit epididymis.

The nucleomyofibrillar fraction of mature rabbit epididymides contains a salt-extractable and leupeptin-sensitive protease that alters the sedimentation coefficient of cytosolic steroid receptors. We refer to this modification as receptor conversion. The substrate used in these studies was cytosolic estrogen receptor obtained from frozen rabbit uteri. The unactivated form of the receptor exists as an oligomer under hypotonic (0.01 M KCl) conditions (S20,w congruent to 9.6, Stokes radius (Rs) congruent to 7.4 nm, Mr congruent to 320,000) and dissociates under hypertonic (0.4 M KCl) conditions to yield the steroid-binding monomer (S20,w congruent to 4.7, Rs congruent to 5.1 nm, Mr congruent to 104,000). According to analysis under hypotonic conditions, the epididymal protease disrupts the oligomeric architecture of the receptor and reduces the size of the steroid-binding monomer (S20,w congruent to 3.2, Rs congruent to 3.0 nm, Mr congruent to 42,000). The epididymal protease had no detectable effect on the structure of the proteins used as standards for the ultracentrifugal or gel filtration analyses. Although inhibited by leupeptin, the epididymal enzyme is not a typical thiol protease since it was unaffected by thiol-blocking agents (iodoacetamide and N-ethylmaleimide), and was partially inhibited by thiol-reducing agents (monothioglycerol and dithiothreitol). Calcium and magnesium ions alone, or in combination with ATP, had no effect on the activity of the protease. However, both cations selectively suppressed recovery of the oligomeric receptor form. These results, in conjunction with those from previous studies, serve to distinguish the epididymal protease from receptor-active proteases described in extracts of other animal tissues. Molybdate, at a concentration of 50 mM, blocked receptor conversion. The ability of the receptor to be stabilized by molybdate was lost following conversion. Finally, the epididymal protease appears to remove a portion of the estrogen receptor that is necessary for nucleotide-binding.

Structural conversion of cytosolic steroid receptors by an age-dependent epididymal protease.

Epididymides from sexually mature rabbits contain a factor that induces a discrete reduction in the sedimentation coefficient of cytosolic estrogen receptors from various tissues (rabbit epididymis and accessory sex organs; rabbit, rat and mouse uterus) and of cytosolic progesterone receptors from the rabbit uterus. The factor is not species-specific since a similar activity was detected in extracts of mature rat epididymides. Although present in cytosol, the factor is obtained in much higher yield in hypertonic extracts of the nucleomyofibrillar fraction of mature rabbit epididymal tissue. Using rabbit uterine estrogen receptor as substrate, we have determined the following details about the rabbit epididymal factor: (1) it is tissue-specific (undetectable in extracts from rabbit accessory sex organs, testis, uterus, liver, lung, kidney and intestine); (2) it is age-dependent (undetectable in extracts from sexually immature rabbit epididymides); (3) its maintenance is testis-independent following its post-pubertal induction or activation; (4) it is primarily localized in the caput region of the epididymis; (5) it is inactivated by elevated temperature; (6) it is macromolecular in nature; (7) it is DNase- and RNase-resistant; (8) it is irreversibly inactivated by leupeptin, indicating that it is a protease; and (9) it is effective on unoccupied and occupied receptors.

Hormonal effects on the estrogen receptor system in the epididymis and accessory sex organs of sexually immature rabbits.

The epididymis and male accessory sex organs (vesicular gland, prostate, and bulbourethral gland) of sexually immature rabbits contain a functional estrogen receptor system which is regulated in an organ-specific manner by various hormones. In both intact and castrated animals, acute estrogen challenge causes depletion of estrogen receptor from the cytosolic fraction and its appearance in the nuclear fraction of these tissues. A considerable amount of unoccupied nuclear receptor was detected both before and after estrogen challenge. An estrogen-activated, receptor-processing mechanism is operable in these organs since chronic treatment (daily for 14 days) with estradiol benzoate modified the levels of total estrogen receptor, and altered the relative amounts of occupied to unoccupied nuclear receptor present following estrogen challenge. Chronic treatment with estradiol benzoate, Tamoxifen, and testosterone propionate (alone and in combination) had differential, organ-specific effects on the ability of subsequent estrogen challenge to cause accumulation of nuclear receptor. The vesicular gland was the most responsive to estrogen treatment and the bulbourethral gland the least responsive.

Identification of cytoplasmic estrogen receptors in the accessory sex organs of the rabbit and their comparison to the cytoplasmic estrogen receptor in the epididymis.

Estrogen receptors are present in cytosol prepared from the accessory sex organs (vesicular gland, proprostate, prostate, bulbourethral gland) of sexually immature and of sexually mature rabbits. The receptor in these organs from animals of both age groups has a sedimentation coefficient of 8-10S on low ionic strength (0.01 M KCl) sucrose gradients. Under high ionic strength (0.4 M KCl) conditions, the receptor sediments at approximately 4S. The cytoplasmic estrogen receptor from the epididymis shows age-dependent changes in its sedimentation coefficient. It is 8S under low ionic strength conditions when prepared from immature rabbits and 4S under identical conditions when prepared from sexually mature animals. Although the dissociation constant of the cytoplasmic estrogen receptor in the immature and mature epididymis and accessory sex organs remains constant during development (approximately 0.1 nM), the number of available cytoplasmic estrogen binding sites declines from about 160 fmoles/mg cytosol protein in the immature rabbit to about 40 fmoles/mg cytosol protein in the adult animal. The estrogen receptor in the accessory sex organs is highly specific, the relative affinities of various potential competitors being: estradiol and estrone = 1, diethylstilbestrol = 0.3, estriol = 0.2, tamoxifen = 0.08, testosterone = 0.0004 and 5 alpha-DHT = 0.00005. Changes with age in the physicochemical characteristics of the estrogen receptor and in the concentration of binding sites suggest that the estrogen receptor may be involved in the development and physiological regulation of the male reproductive tract.

Binding and retention of estrogen in the uterus of hamsters treated neonatally with diethylstilbestrol.

We have shown previously that postpubertal estrogen exposure promotes the development of uterine tumors in hamsters treated neonatally with diethylstilbestrol (DES). The purpose of this study was to determine if the uterine estrogen receptor system of adult hamsters was altered after neonatal DES treatment. There was no effect on the concentration, subcellular distribution, apparent binding affinity, sedimentation properties, surface charge characteristics or ligand specificity of uterine estrogen receptor in ovariectomized, estrogen-replaced animals. Furthermore, neonatal DES treatment had no effect on the subcellular distribution of radioactivity in the uterus of adult animals ovariectomized 1 week before challenge with [3H]-estradiol-17 beta (E2). However, the amount of radioactivity taken up and specifically bound within the uterus 6 h after [3H]-E2 challenge was less in DES-treated compared to control animals. Six hours after challenge with unlabeled E2, the concentration (pmol/g tissue) of occupied but not total nuclear estrogen receptor was reduced in DES-treated animals. The difference in uterine radioactivity levels and occupied nuclear receptor retention appears to be due to a difference in estrogen metabolism since the systemic concentration of authentic [3H]-E2 was lower in DES-treated animals compared to control. These results demonstrate no DES-induced change in the physicochemical or functional properties of the uterine estrogen receptor system, suggesting that a lesion in this receptor system is not involved in the etiology of uterine tumor development following neonatal DES exposure. However, the DES-treated animal appears to have an enhanced estrogen metabolism.

Etiology of DES-induced uterine tumors in the Syrian hamster.

This paper describes a new experimental model system for the induction of endometrial adenocarcinoma in hamster uterus following diethylstilbestrol (DES) treatment of the newborn female. We propose that DES acts as an initiator during early development and that other estrogens act as promoters to stimulate tumor development in the adult uterus. DES directly affects the uterus as was shown by the failure of neonatal ovariectomy to prevent early DES-induced uterine growth. Subsequently, ovarian estrogen secretion from anovulatory, polyfollicular ovaries modifies the DES-altered uterus starting between 20 and 30 days of age and continuing into adult life. Early DES effects on the uterus include stimulation of endometrial cellular differentiation and progesterone receptor production. Permanent changes in uterine collagen, DNA and progesterone receptor content were noted, but the responsiveness of the DES-altered uterus to estrogen and progestin action was not impaired. Morphogenetic changes included an increase in extracellular connective tissue elements and striking alterations in endometrial cell composition such as hyperplasia of luminal and glandular epithelia and a massive inflammatory response in the stroma. Endometrial adenocarcinomas occurred in DES-treated animals in association with exposure to either endogenous estrogen from anovulatory ovaries or exogenous estrogen treatment of the ovariectomized animal. Endometrial tumors had relatively high concentrations of estrogen and progesterone receptors, suggesting a sensitivity to hormone action. Thus, these studies (a) demonstrate the utility of this animal model for the preparation of experimental endometrial tumors, and (b) suggest that DES acts as an initiator to transform uterine cells during early development, and estrogen exposure later in life acts as a promotor to stimulate growth and proliferation of DES-transformed cells.