Synergism between PGC-1α and estrogen in the survival of endometrial cancer cells via the mitochondrial pathway

Accumulating evidence shows that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is involved in the progression of hormone-related cancers, and there may exist an association between estrogen and PGC-1α. Notably, emerging evidence has led to considerable interest in the role of PGC-1α in endometrial cancer development. However, whether the synergism exists between PGC-1α and estrogen for regulating mitochondrial function to promote the development of endometrial cancer remains largely unknown. Here, we show that: 1) knockdown of PGC-1α attenuates the survival of endometrial cancer cells by inducing cell apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway; 2) estrogen remedies the PGC-1α efficiency-induced decline of endometrial cancer cell viability; and 3) estrogen modulates the mitochondrial function to inhibit the PGC-1α deficiency-induced apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells. Collectively, these results demonstrated that the synergism between PGC-1α and estrogen was required for the survival of endometrial cancer cells, which was dependent on the mitochondrial pathway.