Mechanisms Mediating Oestradiol Modulation of the Developing Brain

Abstract

The brain has been known to be a sensitive target organ for the permanent organisational effects of gonadal steroids for close to 50 years. Recent advances have revealed a variety of unexpected cellular mechanisms by which steroids impact on the synaptic profile of hypothalamic nuclei critical to the control of reproduction. This review focuses on three in particular: 1) prostaglandins in the masculinisation of the preoptic area and control of male sexual behaviour; 2) GABA in the arcuate nucleus and potential control of the anterior pituitary; and 3) non‐genomic activation of phosphotydolinositol 3 (PI3) kinase and glutamate in the ventromedial nucleus, which is relevant to the control of female reproductive behaviour. The importance of cell‐to‐cell communication, be it between neurones or between neurones and astrocytes, is highlighted as an essential principle for expanding the impact of steroids beyond those cells that express nuclear receptors.