Estrogen receptors alpha and beta have different roles in the induction and trafficking of progesterone receptors in hypothalamic ventromedial neurons

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2015

Authors

Susana I Sa (Author) Other; Bruno M Fonseca (Author) Other; Natercia Teixeira (Author) FFUP; Madeira, MD (Author) FMUP

Journal

Title: FEBS Journal

Vol. 282

Pages: 1126-1136

ISSN: 1742-464X

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 13 Citations

Scopus - 12 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Biological sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00A-9E2

DOI: 10.1111/febs.13207

Abstract (EN): Progesterone receptor (PR) activation in the ventrolateral division of the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMNvl) is essential for promoting female sexual behavior. Estrogen receptor (ER) , in contrast to ER, has been implicated in the induction of PRs. The simultaneous activation of ER and ER, although not increasing the number of PR-immunoreactive neurons in the VMNvl, facilitates lordosis, which suggests that ER and/or the ER-ER interaction might play a role in PR dynamics and/or PR expression by individual neurons. To address this question, we used western blot and immunohistochemical studies to determine the amounts and subcellular distributions of both PR isoforms in VMNvl neurons of ovariectomized rats injected with estradiol benzoate or with specific agonists of ER and ER, alone or in association. The present data show that ER activation does not change PR expression in individual neurons, but increases the number of PRs in the VMNvl, because it increases the number of neurons expressing PRs. Conversely, ER activation does not change the total number of PRs in the VMNvl, but increases the labeling intensity of the perikaryal cytoplasm, which suggests that it promotes the transport of PRs from neurites into cell bodies. In addition, the simultaneous activation of ER and ER increases the expression of PRs by individual neurons and, consequently, increases the total number of PRs in the VMNvl. Our findings reveal that individual and simultaneous activation of ER and ER have different effects on the levels and subcellular location of PRs in VMNvl neurons.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11