Expression profiling of estrogen-responsive genes in breast cancer cells treated with alkylphenols, chlorinated phenols, parabens, or bis- and benzoylphenols for evaluation of estrogenic activity.

We examined expression profiles of estrogen-responsive genes after treatment with alkylphenols (p-cresol (pC), 4-n-ethylphenol (4EP), 4-n-heptylphenol (4HP), 4-t-octylphenol (4OP) and nonylphenol (NP)), chlorinated phenols (4-chlorophenol (4CP), 4-chloro-3,5-dimethylphenol (CDP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP)), parabens (methylparaben (MPB), ethylparaben (EPB) propylparaben (PPB) and butylparaben (BuPB)), or bis- and benzoylphenols (bisphenols A and B and p-hydroxybenzophenone (pHBP)) by means of a DNA microarray assay first to evaluate the estrogenic activity of these chemicals and then to understand the structural basis for the activity. By selecting a set of 120 genes showing greater statistical reliability for estrogen, a more reliable assay for each of the chemicals was achieved and, for the chemicals for which data were available, the results were consistent with those of previously reported estrogen receptor-binding and yeast two-hybrid assays except for chlorinated and few other phenols. Evaluation of the chemicals based on gene function indicated that the genes related to proliferation, transcription and transport were mostly up-regulated while significant numbers of genes related to enzymes and signaling were down-regulated. The genes related to transcription showed the highest degree of variation among the six functional categories (enzymes, signaling, proliferation, transcription, transport and others) for the chemicals with relatively high levels of estrogenic activity. These results indicate that the variations in chemicals and their biological effects can be monitored by the appropriate grouping of estrogen-responsive genes.