Dissociable involvement of estrogen receptors in perirhinal cortex-mediated object-place memory in male rats

Estrogens and the estrogen receptors (ER) - ER alpha, ER beta, and the G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) - are implicated in various forms of hippocampus (HPC)-dependent memory. However, the involvement of ER -related mechanisms in perirhinal cortex (PRh), which is necessary for object memory, remains much less clear. Moreover, there is a paucity of data assessing ER contributions to cognition in males,despite documented sex differences at the cellular level. We hypothesized that estrogens in PRh are important for object memory in males, assessingthe role of 17-beta estradiol (E2), ER alpha, ER beta, GPER, and their downstream signaling pathways, in PRh-mediated object-in-place (OiP) memory in gonadally-intact male rats. Intra-PRh administration of E2 enhanced both long-term memory (LTM; 24 h) and short-term memory (STM; 20 min). Conversely, aromatase inhibition with letrozole impaired LTM and STM. The semi-selective ER inhibitor ICI 182780 impaired LTM, but not STM. This effect may be due to inhibition of ER beta, as the ER beta agonist DPN, but not ERaagonist PPT, enhanced LTM. GPER was also found to be necessary in PRh, as the antagonist G15 impaired both LTM and STM. Western blot analyses demonstrated that phosphorylation levels of the extracellular signal -related kinase (ERK2 isoform), awell-establisheddownstream signaling pathway activated by estrogens through ER alpha/ER beta, was elevated in PRh 5min following OiP learning. We also reportincreased levels of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK; p46 and p54 isoforms) phosphorylation in PRh 5 min following learning,consistent with recent research linking GPER activation and JNK signaling in the HPC. This effect was abolished by intra-PRh administration of G15, but not letrozole, suggesting that JNK signaling is triggered via GPER activation during OiP learning, and is possibly E2 independent, similar to findings in the HPC. These results, therefore, reveal interesting dissociations between the roles of various ERs, possibly involving both estrogen-dependent and independent mechanisms, in PRh-mediated object-place learning in male rats.