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Ontogeny of estrogen receptor alpha, estrogen receptor beta and androgen receptor, and their co-localization with Islet-1 in the dorsal root ganglia of sheep fetuses during gestation

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Abstract

The aims of the present study were to detect the ontogeny of estrogen receptor (ERα and ERβ) and androgen receptor (AR) expressions and their co-localization with Islet-1 in the developing dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of sheep fetuses by immunohistochemistry. From the single staining results, the ERα immunoreactivity (ERα-ir), ERβ immunoreactivity (ERβ-ir) and AR immunoreactivity (AR-ir) was first detected at days 90, 120 and 90 of gestation, respectively. From days 90 to 120, ERα and AR were consistently detected in the nuclei of DRG neurons and the relative percentage (approximately 60%) of ERα-ir or AR-ir cells did not change significantly. Moreover, there was no change in ERα expression, while a dramatic loss of AR expression was observed at birth. From day 120 of gestation to birth, very few neurons (approximately 8%) showed nuclear ERβ immunoreactivity. The dual staining results showed that Islet-1 was co-localized with ERα, ERβ or AR in the nuclei of DRG neurons with various frequencies, and over 70% ERα-ir, ERβ-ir or AR-ir cells contained Islet-1. These results imply that ERs, AR and Islet-1 may be important in regulating the differentiation and functional maintenance of some phenotypes of DRG neurons after mid-gestation in the sheep fetus.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by grants to Jiali Liu (30671515) and Haoshu Luo (30771587) from the Natural Science Foundation of China. The Islet-1 monoclonal antibody 40.2D6 was developed by Thomas Jessel and was obtained from the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank developed under the auspices of the NIHD and maintained by the University of Iowa, Department of Biological Sciences, Iowa City, IA, USA.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100094, People’s Republic of China

    Haoshu Luo, Jiali Liu & Sheng Cui

  2. Teaching Center for Experimental Life Sciences, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100094, People’s Republic of China

    Duo Kang

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  1. Haoshu Luo
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Correspondence to Sheng Cui.

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Luo, H., Liu, J., Kang, D. et al. Ontogeny of estrogen receptor alpha, estrogen receptor beta and androgen receptor, and their co-localization with Islet-1 in the dorsal root ganglia of sheep fetuses during gestation. Histochem Cell Biol 129, 525–533 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-008-0380-4

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