Estrogen Induced Neuroplasticity in the Lordosis Pathway

描述(申请人摘要)：大脑腹内侧核 下丘脑(VMH)是一个控制性行为的性二态区域 在雌性大鼠身上，以前凸反射为代表。女性对性的接受性 只有在有雌激素存在的情况下，腹外侧区的雌激素受体 下丘脑室旁核细分(VlVMH)介导雌激素对性功能的影响 行为。相比之下，雄性大鼠甚至不会表现出前凸反应 当被阉割和雌激素治疗时。这项提案的总体目标是 研究vlVMH中偶联雌激素作用的局部回路 与执行前凸反射的路径有关。具体目标是：1) 要检验与前凸相关的传出神经是分离的假设 来自含有雌激素受体的神经元并由其支配；2)至 验证雌激素诱导与前凸相关的树突棘的假说 V1 VMH内有传出神经元，但不含雌激素受体神经元； 以及3)检验假设在特定成分中的性别差异 VMH局部环路介导雌激素对脊柱的性别依赖效应 VMH中的密度。这些方法将包括量化和本地化 跨神经元示踪显示神经元，常规顺行和 树突棘密度的逆行示踪、共聚焦显微镜分析 路西法黄色填充的单元格，以及这些技术与 免疫细胞化学。这些研究的结果可能会说明 雌激素对神经功能的影响。

DESCRIPTION (applicant's abstract): The ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) is a sexually dimorphic region that controls sexual behavior in female rats, typified by the lordosis reflex. Females are sexually receptive only when estrogen is present, and estrogen receptors in the ventrolateral subdivision of the VMH (vlVMH) mediate the effects of estrogen on sexual behavior. Male rats, in contrast, do not exhibit the lordosis response, even when castrated and treated with estrogen. The general goal of this proposal is to investigate the local circuitry in the vlVMH that couples estrogen action with the pathways that execute the lordosis reflex. The specific aims are: 1) To test the hypothesis that the lordosis-relevant efferents are segregated from, and are innervated by, the estrogen receptor-containing neurons; 2) To test the hypothesis that estrogen induces dendritic spines in lordosis-relevant efferent neurons, but not estrogen receptor-containing neurons, in the vlVMH; and 3) To test the hypothesis that sex differences in specific components of the VMH local circuitry mediate the sex-dependent effect of estrogen on spine density in the VMH. The methods will include quantification and localization of neurons visualized by transneuronal tracing, conventional anterograde and retrograde tracing, confocal microscopic analysis of dendritic spine density on Lucifer yellow-filled cells, and the combination of these techniques with immunocytochemistry. The results of these studies may illuminate the effects of estrogen on neural function.