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Contents:
Volume 88, Issue 1; January, 2008.
[Index by Author] [Editorial Board]
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= article is free immediately upon publication
(all articles are free one year after publication)
Cover: Many sex differences in the brain are secondary to the aromatization of testicularly derived androgens to estradiol during a perinatal-sensitive period. This potent steroid exerts a multitude of effects that vary by brain region and invoke distinct cellular mechanisms. Illustrated here is the induction of prostaglandin synthesis (PGE2) downstream of an estradiol-induced upregulation of the synthetic enzyme COX-2. A working model based on supportive evidence suggests that PGE2 released by neurons induces calcium influx in neighboring astrocytes, changing their morphology to a more complex phenotype and inducing the release of glutamate. This astrocytic-derived glutamate then acts back on the dendrites of neurons to induce the formation of dendritic spines, the major site of excitatory synapses in the brain. As a result, males have a higher density of dendritic spine synapses on neurons of the preoptic area, an effect which endures into adulthood and is positively correlated with the expression of male sexual behavior. This review highlights both this surprising mechanism mediating masculinization of the developing brain as well as other novel findings regarding the actions of estradiol to permanently alter the neuronal architecture. See McCarthy, Margaret M. Physiol Rev 88: 91-124, 2008.
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