Investigators and Program Directors
Brian Pentecost
Research Scientist, Wadsworth Center, Molecular Toxicology
Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences
Ph.D., University of London
Postdoctoral training, University of Calgary
E-mail: brian.pentecost@wadsworth.org
Research Interests
The primary interest of the laboratory is in estrogen action, based on the importance of estrogens in breast cancer. Current emphasis is on the mechanisms that may support estrogen signaling without binding of the classical estrogen receptor to DNA and post-transcriptional regulation of estrogen receptor alpha (ER) expression. There are at least two promoters generating ER transcripts in breast tumors, one of which predominates in tumor cells lines. There is a trend, on a population basis, for the relative expression of the alternate transcripts in breast tumors to change with increasing age of patients at time of diagnosis. An important finding is that one of the transcripts is subject to translational-controls so that the expression of protein may not be directly related to RNA expression.
Additional work by the research group is on the regulation and expression of Cytochromes P450, especially the CYPs 1A1 and 1B1 that are important in estradiol metabolism in breast tissue and cells.
Contact Information
E-mail: brian.pentecost@wadsworth.org.