Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM
Volume 284, Issue 1, Pages E184-E192Publisher
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00165.2002
Keywords
estrogen receptors; 26S proteasome; 17 beta-estradiol; cerebral circulation
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Funding
- NHLBI NIH HHS [R01-HL-50775] Funding Source: Medline
- NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE [R01HL050775] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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The cerebral vasculature is an important target tissue for estrogen, as evidenced by significant effects of estrogen on vascular reactivity and protein levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and prostacyclin synthase. However, the presence, localization, and regulation of estrogen receptors in the cerebral vasculature have not been investigated. In this study, we identified the presence of estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha) in female rat cerebral blood vessels and localized this receptor to both smooth muscle and endothelial cells by use of immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. With immunoblot analysis, multiple forms of ER-alpha were detected at 110, 93, 82, 50, and 45 kDa in addition to a relatively weak band corresponding to the 66-kDa putative unmodified receptor. The 82-kDa band was identified as Ser(118)-phosphorylated ER-alpha, whereas the 50-kDa band lacks the normal NH2 terminus, suggestive of an ER-alpha splice variant. Lower molecular mass bands persisted after in vivo inhibition of 26S proteasome activity with lactacystin, whereas the 110- and 93-kDa bands increased. All forms of ER-alpha in cerebral vessels were decreased after ovariectomy but significantly increased after chronic estrogen exposure in vivo.
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