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The Journal of Neuroscience, November 24, 2004, 24(47):10628-10635; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5540-03.2004
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Cellular/Molecular
Estrogen Receptor (ER) Isoforms Rather Than ER Regulate Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Promoter Activity through an Alternate Pathway
William J. Schouler Miller,1,2
Shotaro Suzuki,3
Lydia K. Miller,1,2
Robert Handa,3 and
Rosalie M. Uht1
1Departments of Pathology and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and 2University of Virginia College, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-0904, and 3Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulates mammalian stress responses by secreting glucocorticoids. The magnitude of the response is in part determined by gender, for in response to a given stressor, circulating glucocorticoids reach higher levels in female rats than in males. This gender difference could result from estrogen regulation of the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) promoter via either of its receptors: estrogen receptor (ER) or ER . Immunocytochemistry revealed that a subset (12%) of medial parvocellular CRH neurons in the rat hypothalamus contain ER but not ER . To determine whether ERs could regulate CRH promoter activity, we cotransfected cells with a CRH promoter construct and either ER or individual ER isoforms. ER weakly stimulated CRH promoter transcriptional activity in a ligand-independent manner. Conversely, all ER isoforms tested stimulated CRH promoter activity with different ligand profiles. ER 1 and ER 2 3 displayed constitutive activity (ER 1 more than ER 2 3). Ligand-dependent activity of isoforms 1 and 2 was altered by an Exon3 splice variant ( 3) or by the additional 18 amino acids in the ligand-binding domain of ER 2 isoforms. Lastly, we suggest that ER regulation of CRH takes place through an alternate pathway, one that requires protein-protein interactions with other transcription factors or their associated complexes. However, a pure ER-activator protein-1 alternate pathway does not appear to be involved.
Key words: estrogen receptor ; estrogen receptor ; corticotropin-releasing hormone; estradiol; tamoxifen; stress
Received June 4, 2003;
revised September 16, 2004;
accepted October 7, 2004.
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