Identification of proteins associated with ligand-activated estrogen receptor ± in human breast cancer cell nuclei by tandem affinity purification and nano LC-MS/MS.

Estrogen receptor a (ER-a) is a key mediator of estrogen actions in breast cancer (BC) cells. Understanding the effects of ligand-activated ER-a in target cells requires identification of the molecular partners acting in concert with this nuclear receptor to transduce the hormonal signal. We applied tandem affinity purification (TAP), glycerol gradient centrifugation and MS analysis to isolate and identify proteins interacting with ligand-activated ER-a in MCF-7 cell nuclei. This led to the identification of 264 ER-associated proteins, whose functions highlight the hinge role of ER-a in the coordination of multiple hormone-regulated nuclear processes in BC cells.