Estrogen regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor in breast cancer in vitro and in vivo: the role of estrogen receptor α and c-Myc

The role of c-Myc in estrogen regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and of the vasculature function has been investigated in breast cancer cells and tumors. The studies were performed on MCF7 wild-type cells and MCF7-35im clone, stably transfected with an inducible c-Myc gene. In vitro and ex vivo methods for investigating molecular events were integrated with in vivo magnetic resonance imaging of the vascular function. The results showed that the c-Myc upregulation by estrogen is necessary for the transient induction of VEGF transcription; however, overexpression of c-Myc alone is not sufficient for this induction. Furthermore, both c-Myc and the activated estrogen receptor α (ERα) were shown to co-bind the VEGF promoter in close proximity, indicating a novel mechanism for estrogen regulation of VEGF. Studies of long-term estrogen treatment and overexpression of c-Myc alone demonstrated regulation of stable VEGF expression levels in vitro and in vivo, maintaining steady vascular permeability in tumors. However, withdrawal of estrogen from the tumors resulted in increased VEGF and elevated vascular permeability, presumably due to hypoxic conditions that were found to dominate VEGF overexpression in cultured cells. This work revealed a cooperative role for ERα and c-Myc in estrogen regulation of VEGF and the ability of c-Myc to partially mimic estrogen regulation of angiogenesis. It also illuminated the differences in estrogen regulation of VEGF during transient and long-term sustained treatments and under different microenvironmental conditions, providing a complementary picture of the in vitro and in vivo results.