Estrogen Signaling Pathway

1. Estrogen Signaling Pathway The estrogen signaling pathway refers to all proteins of estrogen function and related regulatory proteins. Estrogen is a substance that promotes the development of secondary sexual characteristics and sexual organ maturation in female animals. It is secreted by the ovary and placenta of female animals. The receptors for estrogen are distributed in the uterus, vagina, breast, pelvis, skin, bladder, urethra, bones, and brain. Therefore, estrogen has a wide and important physiological role, which can promote and maintain the second sexual characteristics of female reproductive organs. The physiological effects have obvious impacts on endocrine, cardiovascular, metabolic systems, bone growth and maturation, and skin. Natural estrogen is mainly estradiol, estrone, and estriol. Currently, estrogen drugs commonly used in clinical practice are artificially synthesized derivatives of estradiol, such as estradiol benzoate and estradiol pentoxide. The role of estrogen in the cardiovascular system is mainly to regulate vascular function, and participate in the inflammatory response, metabolism, survival of cardiomyocytes and stem cells. Estrogen works mainly by binding to estrogen receptor (ER). When estrogen binds to ER, it regulates gene transcription in the nucleus or activates kinases in the cytoplasm to play its role. Understanding the estrogen signaling pathway will provide a theoretical basis for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other diseases.