Year: 2016
Type: review
Abstract: Over the past two decades, the classical understanding of steroid action has been updated to include rapid, membrane-initiated, neurotransmitter-like functions. While steroids were known to function on very short time spans to induce physiological and behavioral changes, the mechanisms by which these changes occur are now becoming more clear. In avian systems, rapid estradiol effects can be mediated via local alterations in aromatase activity, which precisely regulates the temporal and spatial availability of estrogens. Acute regulation of brain-derived estrogens has been shown to rapidly affect sensorimotor function and sexual motivation in birds. In rodents, estrogens and progesterone are critical for reproduction, including preovulatory events and female sexual receptivity. Membrane progesterone receptor as well as classical progesterone receptor trafficked to the membrane mediate reproductive-related hypothalamic physiology, via second messenger systems with dopamine-induced cell signals. In addition to these relatively rapid actions, estrogen membrane-initiated signaling elicits changes in morphology. In the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, these changes are needed for lordosis behavior. Recent evidence also demonstrates that membrane glucocorticoid receptor is present in numerous cell types and species, including mammals. Further, membrane glucocorticoid receptor influences glucocorticoid receptor translocation to the nucleus effecting transcriptional activity. The studies presented here underscore the evidence that steroids behave like neurotransmitters to regulate CNS functions. In the future, we hope to fully characterize steroid receptor-specific functions in the brain.
Source: Journal of Neuroscience
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: National Science Foundation, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, Services Fédéraux des Affaires Scientifiques, Techniques et Culturelles, National Institutes of Health, Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology, California State University, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: G250648642, G293148863, G3043537717, G3639801787, G3744680913, Physiology of hypothalamic neurosteroidal progesterone, Genomic and Non-Genomic Effects of Steroid Hormones on Social Behavior, California State University Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CSU-LSAMP) Senior Alliance (2013-2018), Song Learning and Fluctuating Brain Estrogens, Neuroendocrinology, Sex Differences, and Reproduction, G6797021832, Opioid mediation of progesterone actions in a reproductive behavior circuit, G6917964427, Sex Steroid Activation of Opioid Circuits in the CNS, Hormones and neuroplasticity: image guided discoveries of molecular mechanisms in neuroplasticity (PLASTOSCINE)., Rapid Estrogen Signaling in Brain Circuits that Guide Complex Behavior
OpenAlex ID: W2552180726