In RPMI medium supplemented with 10 FCS. In the case of T-47-D cells, 10 mg/L of insulin (Sigma, Munich, Germany) were supplement-Figure 1. Chemical structures of the compounds used as pharmacological tools. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051032.gNPY Y1 Receptor Down-Regulation by AntiestrogensWhen cells were confluent, the medium was removed and the cells from 8?0 flasks were harvested after trypsination. The pooled cell suspensions were centrifuged at 1200 rpm for 7 min. The pellet was washed twice with PBS and suspended in 4? mL of TEDMo-buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 10 mM Na2MoO4 (Sigma), 1 mM EDTA, 1 tablet of EDTA-free protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) per 100 mL). Cells were lysed using an ultrasonic cell disrupter B15 (Branson, Danbury, CT, 3610 cycles, 10?0 s) under ice cooling. The suspension was centrifuged for 20 min at 5000 rpm. The supernatant cell extract was decanted carefully and stored at 270uC. The protein content of the cytosols was determined after appropriate dilution by Bradford’s protein assay [26] using Bradford dye reagent (BioRad Laboratories, Munich, Germany) following the manufacturer’s protocol. Absorbance was measured in a Uvikon 930 spectrophotometer (Kontron, Neufahrn, Germany) at 595 nm. A calibration curve with human serum albumin (HSA, Behringwerke, Marburg, Germany) standards was recorded to assign absorbance values to protein concentrations.[3H]-17b-Estradiol Binding AssayThe [3H]-17b-estradiol ([3H]-E2) saturation binding assay was performed in 1.5 mL-reaction vessels (Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany) under ice cooling. Mixtures of the radioligand (added as a 5-fold concentrated solution in Tris buffer (100 18297096 mL); final concentration range: 0.1?.0 nM) and the respective cytosol (100 mL) were diluted to a final volume of 500 mL in buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4). 17b-estradiol (final concentration: 1 mM) was added to GSK-J4 determine nonspecific binding. Total and nonspecific binding were determined in triplicate. The samples were incubated for 16?0 h at 4uC under shaking. Non-bound radioactivity was removed by the Camicinal web dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) method. For this purpose 0.5 mL of a an ice-cold suspension containing 0.8 charcoal (Norit A; Serva, Heidelberg, Germany) and 0.008 dextran 60 (Serva) were added to each sample, followed by incubation at 4uC for 30 min under shaking. After centrifugation (10 min at 4000 rpm), 200 mL of the supernatant were transferred into minivials containing 3 mL of liquid scintillator (RothiszintTM eco plus; Roth, Karlsruhe, Germany). The bound radioactivity was counted in a LS6500 liquid scintillation beta counter (Beckmann Instruments, Munich, Germany).Figure 2. Effect of the antiestrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen on the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Growth kinetics of three MCF-7 variants differing in ER content (high (H), medium (M) low (L)) and MDAMB-231 (negative) breast cancer cells in the presence of 4-hydroxytamoxifen (#10 nM, D 100 nM, 1 mM) compared to vehicle ( ) (ethanol at a final concentration of 0.1 ). Mean values 6 standard deviations (n = 16). *The ER content (mean value 6 SEM, n = 3) was determined radiometrically from corresponding cytosols using [3H]17b-estradiol. No specific binding was detected in the case of MDA-MB231 cells. ER content (fmol/mg) was normalized to soluble protein. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051032.gNed. To study (anti)estrogenic effects on Y1R expression, the medium was replaced with EMEM (or phenol red-free DMEM) supplem.In RPMI medium supplemented with 10 FCS. In the case of T-47-D cells, 10 mg/L of insulin (Sigma, Munich, Germany) were supplement-Figure 1. Chemical structures of the compounds used as pharmacological tools. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051032.gNPY Y1 Receptor Down-Regulation by AntiestrogensWhen cells were confluent, the medium was removed and the cells from 8?0 flasks were harvested after trypsination. The pooled cell suspensions were centrifuged at 1200 rpm for 7 min. The pellet was washed twice with PBS and suspended in 4? mL of TEDMo-buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 10 mM Na2MoO4 (Sigma), 1 mM EDTA, 1 tablet of EDTA-free protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) per 100 mL). Cells were lysed using an ultrasonic cell disrupter B15 (Branson, Danbury, CT, 3610 cycles, 10?0 s) under ice cooling. The suspension was centrifuged for 20 min at 5000 rpm. The supernatant cell extract was decanted carefully and stored at 270uC. The protein content of the cytosols was determined after appropriate dilution by Bradford’s protein assay [26] using Bradford dye reagent (BioRad Laboratories, Munich, Germany) following the manufacturer’s protocol. Absorbance was measured in a Uvikon 930 spectrophotometer (Kontron, Neufahrn, Germany) at 595 nm. A calibration curve with human serum albumin (HSA, Behringwerke, Marburg, Germany) standards was recorded to assign absorbance values to protein concentrations.[3H]-17b-Estradiol Binding AssayThe [3H]-17b-estradiol ([3H]-E2) saturation binding assay was performed in 1.5 mL-reaction vessels (Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany) under ice cooling. Mixtures of the radioligand (added as a 5-fold concentrated solution in Tris buffer (100 18297096 mL); final concentration range: 0.1?.0 nM) and the respective cytosol (100 mL) were diluted to a final volume of 500 mL in buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4). 17b-estradiol (final concentration: 1 mM) was added to determine nonspecific binding. Total and nonspecific binding were determined in triplicate. The samples were incubated for 16?0 h at 4uC under shaking. Non-bound radioactivity was removed by the dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) method. For this purpose 0.5 mL of a an ice-cold suspension containing 0.8 charcoal (Norit A; Serva, Heidelberg, Germany) and 0.008 dextran 60 (Serva) were added to each sample, followed by incubation at 4uC for 30 min under shaking. After centrifugation (10 min at 4000 rpm), 200 mL of the supernatant were transferred into minivials containing 3 mL of liquid scintillator (RothiszintTM eco plus; Roth, Karlsruhe, Germany). The bound radioactivity was counted in a LS6500 liquid scintillation beta counter (Beckmann Instruments, Munich, Germany).Figure 2. Effect of the antiestrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen on the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Growth kinetics of three MCF-7 variants differing in ER content (high (H), medium (M) low (L)) and MDAMB-231 (negative) breast cancer cells in the presence of 4-hydroxytamoxifen (#10 nM, D 100 nM, 1 mM) compared to vehicle ( ) (ethanol at a final concentration of 0.1 ). Mean values 6 standard deviations (n = 16). *The ER content (mean value 6 SEM, n = 3) was determined radiometrically from corresponding cytosols using [3H]17b-estradiol. No specific binding was detected in the case of MDA-MB231 cells. ER content (fmol/mg) was normalized to soluble protein. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051032.gNed. To study (anti)estrogenic effects on Y1R expression, the medium was replaced with EMEM (or phenol red-free DMEM) supplem.