Sex differences and estrogen regulation of BDNF gene expression, but not propeptide content, in the developing hippocampus.

ABSTRACT: Sex differences in adult brain function are frequently determined developmentally through the actions of steroid hormones during sensitive periods of prenatal and early postnatal life. In rodents, various cellular end points of the developing brain are affected by estradiol that is derived from the aromatization of circulating testosterone and/or synthesized within the brain. We have previously described a sex difference in neurogenesis in the hippocampus of neonatal rats that is modulated by estradiol. In this report, we examined a potential downstream regulator of the effects of estradiol on hippocampal cell proliferation by measuring gene expression of brain-derived neurotrophin (BDNF) in male and female neonatal rats in response to estradiol. Males had higher baseline BDNF gene express

SUBMITTER: Kight KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5120655 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature