Figure 1.

Mechanisms of AR mediated gene transcription in different subtypes of breast cancer. In ER-α-negative/HER 2-positive breast cancer, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway is implicated and facilitates the transcriptional activity of AR promoting tumor growth. In TNBC, androgens seem to initiate second-messenger signaling cascades, which often results in a feedback loop, leading to the progression of the tumor. In the ER-positive, BC subtype, there is a dynamic relationship between ER and AR, where the two receptors can transcriptionally regulate each other through heterodimerization and binding to the same DNA sequence. Abbreviations: AR—androgen receptor; ARE—androgen receptor element; DHT—dihydrotestosterone; TF—transcription factor.