Role of estradiol in the dynamic control of tanycyte plasticity mediated by vascular endothelial cells in the median eminence.

ABSTRACT: In the ever-changing physiological context of the neuroendocrine brain, the mechanisms by which cellular events involving neurons, astroglia, and vascular cells are coordinated to bring forth the appropriate neuronal signaling is not yet known but is amenable to examination. In the median eminence of the hypothalamus, endothelial cells are key players in the plasticity of tanycytes (specialized astroglia) and neuroendocrine synapse efficacy. Here we report that estradiol acts on both purified endothelial cells and isolated tanycytes to trigger endothelial-to-glial communication that leads to a sudden and massive retraction of tanycyte processes. The blockade of endothelial nitric oxide synthase by in vitro adenoviral-mediated gene transfer of a dominant-negative form of endothelial nitric

SUBMITTER: de Seranno S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2850227 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature