title: Analyses of rapid estrogen actions on rat ventromedial hypothalamic neurons.
abstract: Rapid estrogen actions are widely diverse across many cell types. We conducted a series of electrophysiological studies on single rat hypothalamic neurons and found that estradiol (E2) could rapidly and independently potentiate neuronal excitation/depolarizations induced by histamine (HA) and N-Methyl-d-Aspartate (NMDA). Now, the present whole-cell patch study was designed to determine whether E2 potentiates HA and NMDA depolarizations - mediated by distinctly different types of receptors - by the same or by different mechanisms. For this, the actions of HA, NMDA, as well as E2, were investigated first using various ion channel blockers and then by analyzing and comparing their channel activating characteristics. Results indicate that: first, both HA and NMDA depolarize neurons by inhibiting K(+) currents. Second, E2 potentiates both HA and NMDA depolarizations by enhancing the inhibition of K(+) currents, an inhibition caused by the two transmitters. Third, E2 employs the very same mechanism, the enhancement of K(+) current inhibition, thus to rapidly potentiate HA and NMDA depolarizations. These data are of behavioral importance, since the rapid E2 potentiation of depolarization synergizes with nuclear genomic actions of E2 to facilitate lordosis behavior, the primary female-typical reproductive behavior.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurobiology & Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: kowl@rockefeller.edu.
authors.forename: Lee-Ming
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kow
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurobiology & Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: patakys@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pataky
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurobiology & Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: cd2597@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dupré
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurobiology & Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: aphan@scripps.edu.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurobiology & Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: nmartina@ucm.es.
authors.forename: Nieves
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martin-Alguacil
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurobiology & Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Donald W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pfaff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006632:Histamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000166:cytology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D016202:N-Methylaspartate / Q000494:pharmacology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D004958:Estradiol; D016202:N-Methylaspartate; D006632:Histamine
keywords: Estradiol; Histamine; Ion channel; N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA); Neuronal activity; Patch clamp; Synergism