According to Medical College of Georgia researchers, estrogen can inhibit damage caused by stroke by inactivating a tumor-suppressing protein, P53, which is known to prevent many forms of cancer.

It was remarked by Limor Raz, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the MCG School of Graduate Studies, that the research suggests that estrogen surpasses P53 after stroke to stop the damage.

From News-Medical.Net:

P53, the protein in the mitochondria, or powerhouse, of the cell, is known as “the guardian of the genome” because it regulates the cell cycle and prevents genome mutation. It also can prevent cancer by suppressing tumor growth.

It is known that stressful conditions such as a stroke activate p53, triggering unfavorable changes in the cell. One change is the activation of another protein called PUMA, which signals a cascading effect that destroys the mitochondria and causes cell death, or apoptosis.

It was found by Ms. Raz that estrogen can alter p53 chemically besides attenuating the cascade to result in minimized stroke damage.

Ms. Raz has been working with Dr. Darrell Brann, chief of developmental neurobiology and associate director of the MCG Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics and presented her findings at the American Physiological Society conference aimed at the cardiovascular effects of sex steroids and gender.