TOP
News
Research Results
Visualizing the Mechanics of Hormone-Driven Gene Activation: Insights into Breast Cancer

Visualizing the Mechanics of Hormone-Driven Gene Activation: Insights into Breast Cancer

Professor Ayami Matsushima

Faculty of Science

2025.08.04

Research ResultsLife & Health

Kanazawa, Japan—Scientists at Kanazawa University’s Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) including Professor Masaharu Hazawa of Kyushu University’s Faculty of Science, have captured real-time footage showing how a key hormone receptor activates genes, offering a clearer view into one of the most fundamental processes in biology.

Using high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM), researchers directly visualized how the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) binds to DNA and switches on genes in response to the hormone estrogen. Their findings, published in ACS Nano, reveal new molecular details of hormone signaling, with important implications for diseases like breast cancer.

The full release can be found here:
https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/highlights/33850/

Fig. 1. How Estrogen Receptor Binds DNA. This illustration shows the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα, in orange) attaching to DNA (in blue) as a pair, or dimer. The image is based on real-time, high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) data, showing how ERα recognizes and binds specific DNA sequences to activate genes. The close-up highlights the dimer sitting on the DNA strand — a key step in hormone-driven gene regulation.

Research-related inquiries

Ayami Matsushima, Professor
Faculty of Science
Contact information can also be found in the full release.

Back to the list