Nongenomic effects of estradiol vs. the birth control estrogen ethinyl estradiol on signaling and cell proliferation in pituitary tumor cells, and differences in the ability of R-equol to neutralize or enhance these effects.

Ethinyl estradiol (EE, the active component of many birth control formulations) persists in treated waste waters and it has become a concerning endocrine-disrupting contaminant throughout the world. Previous studies have not examined the behavior of EE in nongenomic signaling pathways and the subsequent functional responses (either alone or in mixtures) or conducted comparisons with the physiological estrogen estradiol (E). In this study, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), ERK, and JNK were activated in pituitary tumor cells by fM EE, but p38 activation was insensitive to 更多