Role of Progesterone Receptor in Cortical Development

黄体酮受体在皮质发育中的作用

• 批准号: 0447492
• 负责人: Christine Wagner
• 金额: $ 36万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Albany
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-03-01 至 2010-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0447492&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Role; Progesterone; Receptor; Cortical; Development

Steroid hormones have dramatic and permanent effects on the developing brain. This has been best studied in the case of testosterone and the development of sex differences in brain function and adult behavior. However, the mammalian brain is also exposed to progesterone, possibly from the mother, during development and this hormone may have profound effects on brain regions linked to cognition, such as the cortex. The goals of this project are to examine when and where receptor proteins for progesterone are expressed in the cortex of fetal and newborn rats, to determine when the brain might be most sensitive to progesterone's effects. To better understand the function of progesterone on cortical development this project will also examine what specific cell types in the cortex are sensitive to progesterone during development and will assess how the development of these cells is altered, in terms of their structure and function, when the effects of progesterone are blocked during critical developmental periods. Results from this project could dramatically change our thinking about the role of steroid hormones on the development of cortex. This project will facilitate the integration of research and education by allowing undergraduates, particularly minority students, to participate in cutting edge research to determine how steroid hormones remodel the brain.

类固醇激素对发育中的大脑有戏剧性和永久性的影响。这一点在睾酮和大脑功能和成年行为的性别差异方面得到了最好的研究。然而，哺乳动物的大脑在发育过程中也暴露于孕酮，可能来自母亲，这种激素可能对与认知相关的大脑区域（如皮质）产生深远的影响。该项目的目标是检查孕激素受体蛋白在胎儿和新生大鼠皮质中表达的时间和位置，以确定大脑何时可能对孕激素的作用最敏感。为了更好地了解孕酮对皮质发育的功能，该项目还将研究皮质中哪些特定细胞类型在发育过程中对孕酮敏感，并将评估这些细胞的发育如何改变，就其结构和功能而言，当孕酮的作用在关键发育期被阻断时。这个项目的结果可能会极大地改变我们对类固醇激素在大脑皮层发育中作用的认识。 该项目将通过允许本科生，特别是少数民族学生参与尖端研究来确定类固醇激素如何重塑大脑，从而促进研究和教育的整合。