Dw. Pfaff et al., HYPOTHALAMIC CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS HELPING TO SATISFY AXIOMATIC REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRODUCTION, Journal of neuroendocrinology, 8(5), 1996, pp. 325-336
In the absence of universal equations expressing neurobiological findi
ngs, the safest theoretical approach for the neuroendocrinologist is t
o start from axiomatic requirements for biologically adaptive neural m
echanisms, in our case for reproduction, From this emerge two themes:
the likely importance of interactions between internal (hormonal) and
external signals in controlling gene expression relevant to reproducti
ve functions; and, second, the vision of molecular interactions on DNA
subserving environmental impacts on reproduction. The first theoretic
al notion has so far yielded data showing a role for synaptic inputs d
uring the onset of estradiol actions for the hormone's induction of en
kephalin mRNA, a finding which parallels earlier behavioral results. A
s well, noxious somatosensory inputs interact with estrogens and proge
sterone in their influence on enkephalin gene expression. The second t
heme led to novel investigations of thyroid influences on reproductive
molecular biology and behavior, including the ability of exogenous or
endogenous thyroid hormones to reduce female mating responses, Since
elevated thyroid hormone levels could signal environmental cold, our e
xperiments offer the possibility of explaining ethological facts at a
molecular level. More generally, nuclear hormone receptor interactions
on the surface of DNA may offer a new level of neural integration rev
ealed first by hormone effects in neuroendocrine cells.