Estrogen receptor-alpha and -beta coexist in a subpopulation of sensory neurons of female rat dorsal root ganglia.

Estrogen receptor-alpha and -beta coexist in a subpopulation of sensory neurons of female rat dorsal root ganglia.

Papka Raymond E; Storey-Workley Megan

Neuroscience letters

2002

2002-02

Immunoreactivities for estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha) and ER-beta are expressed in sensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). It has not been established, however, if the two receptor subtypes coexist in the same neuron. Double-staining immunohistochemical techniques were used to determine if subpopulations of neurons in the lumbosacral DRG exist based on their content of ERs. Results indicate that some neurons (approximately 17%) of the L6-S1 DRG contain ER-alpha -, some (approximately 23%) contain ER-beta - immunoreactivity and some (approximately 5%) express immunoreactivity for both subtypes of the ER. These results suggest that many sensory neurons can respond to estrogens, but estrogens may produce different morphofunctional effects in different neurons based on their expression of ER subtypes.

Female; Animals; Rats; Cell Count; *Sex Characteristics; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Estrous Cycle/*physiology; Estrogen Receptor alpha; Cell Nucleus/metabolism/ultrastructure; Estrogen Receptor beta; Estrogens/*metabolism; Ganglia; Neurons; Sprague-Dawley; Receptors; Spinal/cytology/*metabolism; Genitalia; Estrogen/*metabolism; Afferent/cytology/*metabolism; Female/innervation

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