Developmental regulation of the estrogen receptor and the estrogen responsiveness of five yolk protein genes in the avian liver.

The magnitude of the expression of five yolk protein genes in the avian liver in response to exogenous estradiol is shown to be developmentally regulated. Though each of these yolk protein genes gains the capacity to respond to estradiol during embryonic development, we demonstrate that maximal responses for the different genes are achieved at distinct ages between 1 and 6 weeks after hatching. This observation prompted us to look for possible correlations between yolk protein gene expression and changes in the expression of estrogen receptors that might also occur after hatching. We discovered that indeed the maximal level of nuclear estrogen receptors (assayed following the administration of estradiol) increases progressively over this same period of development from approximately 1000 receptors per cell at 1 week after hatching to approximately 3500 receptors per cell at 6 weeks after hatching. The latter number represents the fully mature state, as comparable levels of receptors are present in the livers of egg-laying hens. Thus, though increases in the expression of estrogen receptors during embryonic liver development have previously been reported, our results indicate that the changes that occur after hatching are quantitatively far more significant to the developmental program for this transcription factor.