title: Effects of swim stress on mRNA and protein levels of steroid 5alpha-reductase isozymes in prefrontal cortex of adult male rats.
abstract: The metabolite of progesterone, allopregnanolone, is among the most potent known ligands of the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor complex (GABA(A)-R) in the central nervous system. This neuroactive steroid is markedly increased in an animal model of acute stress. Allopregnanolone is synthesized from progesterone by steroidogenic enzymes 5alpha-reductase (5alpha-R) and 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3alpha-HSD), with the former being the rate-limiting enzyme in this reaction sequence. In this paper, a quantitative RT-PCR method coupled to laser-induced fluorescence capillary electrophoresis (LIF-CE) and Western blot were used to measure both mRNA and protein levels of 5alpha-R type 1 (5alpha-R1) and 5alpha-R type 2 (5alpha-R2) isozymes in prefrontal cortex of male rats after acute swim stress situations. Our results demonstrate that both 5alpha-R isozymes are significantly higher in prefrontal cortex of male rats after acute swim stress in comparison with control rats. These data may open up a new research line that could improve our understanding of the role of 5alpha-R isozymes in processes that accompany stress situations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gavete
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ortega
mesh_terms: D013741:3-Oxo-5-alpha-Steroid 4-Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000235:genetics; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011280:Pregnanolone / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013550:Swimming; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000502:physiology