Description | Coumestrol, a coumestan isoflavone, has estrogenic properties (phytoestrogens are compounds structurally and functionally similar to 17-estradiol) and is an isoflavonoid phytoalexin produced by soybeans, a low molecular weight antimicrobial compound that is synthesized de novo and accumulates in plants after exposure to microorganisms (i.e.: phytoalexin induction and accumulation in soybean cotyledon tissue is observed with four species of Aspergillus: A. sojae, A. oryzae, A. niger, and A. flavus.). (PMID: 10888516)
Coumestrol is a naturally occurring plant coumarin that displays high affinity for the hormone-binding site of the human estrogen receptor (hER), for which it serves as a potent non-steroidal agonist. Coumestrol emits intense blue fluorescence when bound to this protein, making it ideally suited for use as a cytological stain to detect ER in fixed and intact cells. Such observations illustrate the potential for using coumestrol to investigate real-time effects of a variety of physiological stimuli on the subcellular distribution of hER in living cells. (PMID: 8315272) |