Scott R E M, Wu-Peng X S, Pfaff D W
Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2002 Mar;14(3):175-83. doi: 10.1046/j.0007-1331.2001.00750.x.
Progesterone receptors play a central role in neuroendocrine and behavioural regulation. To gain insight into the sex- and tissue-specific regulation of progesterone receptors, protein binding on a progesterone receptor-oestrogen response element and mRNA levels for progesterone receptor (PR)-A and PR-B were compared between female and male rats following oestradiol benzoate replacement treatment in hypothalamic and pituitary tissue. Both male and female pituitary protein extracts demonstrated an increase in nuclear protein binding activity to a progesterone receptor-oestrogen response element following oestradiol benzoate treatment. However, there was a greater difference in total binding activity seen in the female pituitary extracts compared to male pituitary protein extracts. In both cases, reflecting the binding data, oestradiol benzoate pretreatment led to an increase in pituitary PR-B messenger RNA, although this increase was significantly larger in females than in males. Oestradiol benzoate treatment also led to a significant increase in specific binding of hypothalamic nuclear proteins to the progesterone receptor oestrogen response element from both females and male hypothalamic extracts. In addition, PR-B messenger RNA was induced by oestradiol benzoate treatment in the female rat hypothalamus, under circumstances where no PR-A could be detected. The male also demonstrated an increase in PR-B messenger RNA following oestradiol benzoate treatment, with undetectable levels of PR-A, although to a lesser degree than that seen in the female. The predominance of PR-B over PR-A messenger RNA in rat hypothalamus and pituitary, and the quantitative differences between female and male rats, could both contribute to the greater responsiveness of female rats to progesterone with respect to control over luteinizing hormone release from the pituitary, and lordosis behaviour regulated by hypothalamic neurones.
孕酮受体在神经内分泌和行为调节中发挥着核心作用。为深入了解孕酮受体的性别和组织特异性调节，在给雌性和雄性大鼠的下丘脑和垂体组织注射苯甲酸雌二醇替代治疗后，比较了孕酮受体 - 雌激素反应元件上的蛋白质结合情况以及孕酮受体（PR）-A和PR - B的mRNA水平。苯甲酸雌二醇治疗后，雄性和雌性垂体蛋白提取物均显示出与孕酮受体 - 雌激素反应元件的核蛋白结合活性增加。然而，与雄性垂体蛋白提取物相比，雌性垂体提取物中的总结合活性差异更大。在这两种情况下，与结合数据一致，苯甲酸雌二醇预处理导致垂体PR - B信使RNA增加，尽管雌性的增加幅度明显大于雄性。苯甲酸雌二醇治疗还导致雌性和雄性下丘脑提取物中下丘脑核蛋白与孕酮受体雌激素反应元件的特异性结合显著增加。此外，在未检测到PR - A的情况下，苯甲酸雌二醇治疗诱导雌性大鼠下丘脑PR - B信使RNA增加。苯甲酸雌二醇治疗后，雄性也显示出PR - B信使RNA增加，PR - A水平未检测到，尽管程度低于雌性。大鼠下丘脑和垂体中PR - B信使RNA相对于PR - A信使RNA的优势以及雌性和雄性大鼠之间的定量差异，都可能导致雌性大鼠在控制垂体促黄体生成素释放和下丘脑神经元调节的脊柱前凸行为方面对孕酮的反应性更强。
