PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lauren M. Rudolph
AU  - Charlotte A. Cornil
AU  - Melinda A. Mittelman-Smith
AU  - Jennifer R. Rainville
AU  - Luke Remage-Healey
AU  - Kevin Sinchak
AU  - Paul E. Micevych
TI  - Actions of Steroids: New Neurotransmitters
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2473-16.2016
DP  - 2016 Nov 09
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 11449--11458
VI  - 36
IP  - 45
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/45/11449.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/45/11449.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2016 Nov 09; 36
AB  - Over the past two decades, the classical understanding of steroid action has been updated to include rapid, membrane-initiated, neurotransmitter-like functions. While steroids were known to function on very short time spans to induce physiological and behavioral changes, the mechanisms by which these changes occur are now becoming more clear. In avian systems, rapid estradiol effects can be mediated via local alterations in aromatase activity, which precisely regulates the temporal and spatial availability of estrogens. Acute regulation of brain-derived estrogens has been shown to rapidly affect sensorimotor function and sexual motivation in birds. In rodents, estrogens and progesterone are critical for reproduction, including preovulatory events and female sexual receptivity. Membrane progesterone receptor as well as classical progesterone receptor trafficked to the membrane mediate reproductive-related hypothalamic physiology, via second messenger systems with dopamine-induced cell signals. In addition to these relatively rapid actions, estrogen membrane-initiated signaling elicits changes in morphology. In the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, these changes are needed for lordosis behavior. Recent evidence also demonstrates that membrane glucocorticoid receptor is present in numerous cell types and species, including mammals. Further, membrane glucocorticoid receptor influences glucocorticoid receptor translocation to the nucleus effecting transcriptional activity. The studies presented here underscore the evidence that steroids behave like neurotransmitters to regulate CNS functions. In the future, we hope to fully characterize steroid receptor-specific functions in the brain.