Lauber A H, Romano G J, Pfaff D W
Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, N.Y.
Neuroendocrinology. 1991 Jun;53(6):608-13. doi: 10.1159/000125781.
Previous studies have shown that estrogen increases the level of progestin receptors (PR) to a greater extent in female than in male rat hypothalamus. In order to determine if sex-specific regulation of the PR protein might be attributable to estrogenic effects on the PR message, in situ hybridization was used to assess sex differences in levels of estrogen-inducible PR mRNA in specific brain nuclei. Here, we report a sexually differentiated pattern of estrogen-regulated PR gene expression. In female hypothalamus, estrogen administered to gonadectomized rats induced a 3.6- and a 3.3-fold increase in PR mRNA in the ventrolateral aspect of the ventromedial nucleus and arcuate nucleus, respectively, but failed to alter the level of PR mRNA in the same neuronal groups of the male. Hormone treatment did not affect the levels of PR mRNA in the dorsomedial or medial amygdaloid nuclei of either sex. These results lead towards a molecular explanation of sex differences in female reproductive behavior by revealing an estrogen-dependent up-regulation of the message for PR, a transcription factor, in a region- and sex-specific fashion.
先前的研究表明，雌激素使雌性大鼠下丘脑孕激素受体（PR）水平升高的程度大于雄性大鼠。为了确定PR蛋白的性别特异性调节是否归因于雌激素对PR信息的影响，采用原位杂交技术评估特定脑核中雌激素诱导的PR mRNA水平的性别差异。在此，我们报告了雌激素调节PR基因表达的性别分化模式。在雌性下丘脑，对去卵巢大鼠施用雌激素分别使腹内侧核和弓状核腹外侧部分的PR mRNA增加3.6倍和3.3倍，但未能改变雄性相同神经元组中PR mRNA的水平。激素处理对两性的背内侧核或杏仁内侧核中的PR mRNA水平均无影响。这些结果通过揭示转录因子PR的信息以区域和性别特异性方式依赖雌激素上调，从而为雌性生殖行为的性别差异提供了分子解释。
