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17 β-Estradiol Enhances the Outgrowth and Survival of Neocortical Neurons in Culture

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Abstract

Results of this investigation demonstrate that exposure to 17 β-estradiol differentially and significantly regulates cortical nerve cell outgrowth depending on the cortical region. Parietal and occipital neurons treated with 1 nM 17 β-estradiol showed a greater magnitude of neuronal outgrowth whereas outgrowth of temporal cortex neurons was decreased in the presence of 1 nM 17 β-estradiol. Frontal cortex neurons showed a consistent enhancement of neuronal outgrowth that did not reach statistical significance. The dose response profile for 17 β-estradiol regulation of the macromorphological features exhibited a bimodal dose response relationship whereas the dose response profile for 17 β-estradiol regulation of the micromorphological features exhibited a dose response more characteristic of an inverted V-shaped function. An antagonist to the NMDA receptor antagonist, AP5, abolished the growth promoting effect of 17 β-estradiol whereas the nuclear estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182,780 did not. Lastly, neocortical neurons exposed to 17 β-estradiol exhibited greater viability and survival than control neurons over a two week period. These data indicate that 17 β-estradiol can enhance the growth and viability of select populations of neocortical neurons and that the growth promoting effects of 17 β-estradiol can be blocked by an antagonist to the NMDA glutamate receptor and not by an antagonist to the estrogen nuclear receptor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology, USA

    Roberta Diaz Brinton & Pam Proffitt

  2. USC STAR Program, University of Southern California, Pharmaceutical Sciences Center, 1985 Zonal Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90033

    Roberta Diaz Brinton, Julie Tran & Maria Montoya

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  1. Roberta Diaz Brinton
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Brinton, R.D., Tran, J., Proffitt, P. et al. 17 β-Estradiol Enhances the Outgrowth and Survival of Neocortical Neurons in Culture. Neurochem Res 22, 1339–1351 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022015005508

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