Role of Progesterone Receptor in Cortical Development

类固醇激素对发育中的大脑有显著而持久的影响。这在睾丸激素和大脑功能和成人行为的性别差异发展的案例中得到了最好的研究。然而，哺乳动物的大脑在发育过程中也暴露在黄体酮中，可能来自母亲，这种激素可能对大脑中与认知相关的区域产生深远的影响，比如大脑皮层。该项目的目标是研究孕酮受体蛋白在胎儿和新生大鼠皮层中的表达时间和位置，以确定大脑何时对孕酮的影响最敏感。为了更好地了解黄体酮在皮质发育中的功能，该项目还将研究在发育过程中，皮层中哪些特定的细胞类型对黄体酮敏感，并评估当黄体酮的作用在关键发育时期被阻断时，这些细胞的结构和功能是如何被改变的。这个项目的结果可能会极大地改变我们对类固醇激素在皮质发育中的作用的看法。该项目将通过允许本科生，特别是少数民族学生参与确定类固醇激素如何重塑大脑的前沿研究，促进研究和教育的整合。

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.