Ontogeny of androgen receptor expression in the ovine fetal central nervous system and pituitary.

ABSTRACT: In fetal sheep, circulating androgens influence fetal stress responsiveness and the timing of parturition. Nevertheless, little is known about the presence and development of androgen receptors (ARs) in the fetal brain. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that expression of androgen receptor occurs in fetal brain and pituitary, and that the abundance of the AR is ontogenetically regulated. We isolated mRNA from pituitary, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and brainstem in fetal sheep that were 80, 100, 120, 130, and 145-day gestation, and 1 and 7 days postnatal (n=4-5 per group). Using real-time RT-PCR, we measured mRNA expression levels of the receptor in these brain regions and pituitary. In a separate study, we isolated protein from the same brain regions in fetal sheep tha

SUBMITTER: Wood CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2507723 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature