NERVE GROWTH-FACTOR (NGF) REGULATION OF ESTROGEN-RECEPTORS IN EXPLANTCULTURES OF THE DEVELOPING FOREBRAIN

Estrogen profoundly affects the organization of the nervous system, It s receptor, a nuclear transcription factor, is widely expressed in the developing forebrain, Earlier work established that forebrain estroge n target neurons coexpress nerve growth factor (NGF) receptors and rec eptor mRNA. The present study examined the regulation of forebrain est rogen receptors by NGF, using organotypic cultures of the developing c erebral cortex and basal forebrain, NGF significantly increased nuclea r estrogen binding in cortical but not basal forebrain explants, Both cortical and basal forebrain explant cultures express the NGF receptor , TrkA, However, our earlier observation that developing cortical neur ons, unlike basal forebrain neurons, widely coexpress mRNAs for NGF an d its cognate receptors, suggests that in the present study cortical n euronal responses to exogenous NGF may have been primed by autocrine m echanisms, Alterations in nuclear estrogen binding but not estrogen re ceptor mRNA levels suggests that NGF may regulate cortical estrogen re ceptors posttranscriptionally. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.