Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Lu, C.‐L.
• Herndon, C.

Titel

New roles for neuronal estrogen receptors

Ist Teil von

• Neurogastroenterology and motility, 2017-07, Vol.29 (7), p.n/a

Ort / Verlag

England: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Estrogens encompass steroid hormones which display physiological roles not only in the female reproductive system but also in other organ systems of non‐reproductive controls, including the peripheral and central nervous systems. Traditionally, estrogen signals in neurons through a “genomic pathway”: binding to estrogen receptors (ERs) which then interact with nuclear estrogen response elements to initiate transcription. This effect is usually delayed at onset (within several hours to days) and prolonged in duration. In addition to these classical ERs, recent data suggest that other ERs function through pregenomic signaling pathways. Estrogen's pregenomic pathways cause intracellular changes within seconds to minutes and go through a novel, 7‐transmembrane spanning G protein‐coupled receptor (GPER, formerly known as GPR30). In this review, we will briefly cover the cellular and molecular mechanisms of GPER and then discuss newly discovered roles of GPER in cognition, depression, homeostasis, pain processing, and other associated neuronal functions. Estrogens exert physiological effects via genomic pathways by way of estrogen receptors ERα and β as well as the pregenomic pathways by way of the G protein‐coupled estrogen receptor (GPER)—the receptor recognized as responsible for rapid responses to estrogen. The pregenomic effects of GPER on neuronal function include cognition, depression, homeostasis, pain processing, neuroprotection, and intestinal motility. Though preclinical data demonstrate important roles of GPER on neurological functions, GPER's therapeutic potential and its interaction with classical ERs remains to be investigated.