The long-term of objective of this project is to understand interactions between noradrenergic neurotransmission and steroid responsive brain areas and to relate these interaction to regulation of female reproductive behaviors.
Specific aims are (a) to stereotaxically implant in specific brain nuclei drugs which are antagonists or agonists of alpha-receptor subtypes that normally respond to norepinephrine. this set of experiments is aimed at localizing alpha noradrenergic receptor subtypes involved in regulation of female reproductive behavior, (b) to determine the effects of pharmacological blockade of alpha-1 and alpha-2 noradrenergic receptor subtypes on concentrations of progestin, estrogen and androgen receptors in microdissected brain nuclei involved in reproduction. The object of these experiments is to develop a model by which altered noradrenergic subtypes is present in cells which contain estrogen and progestin receptors in brain areas known to mediate female reproduction and (d) to determine whether pharmacological manipulation of noradrenergic transmission during the prenatal period of sexual differentiation of the brain results in permanent changes in concentrations of brain steroid receptors and in permanent changes in reproductive capacity. All of these studies utilize the guinea pig. Study of this species has revealed clear-cut effects of noradrenergic transmission on female reproductive behavior and on the various classes of brain steroid receptors. Understanding of interactions of noradrenergic system with steroid- sensitive brain areas is important for developing a clearer picture of brain mechanisms involved in human reproduction and in catecholamine- steroid interactions that may be involved in mood disorders. Possible prenatal effects of noradrenergic system alterations on adult because they may point to disturbances in this neurotransmitter system as an important etiological factor in human reproductive function deficiencies and perhaps in non-reproductive functions and behaviors as well.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD004467-21
Application #
3310300
Study Section
Biopsychology Study Section (BPO)
Project Start
1977-05-01
Project End
1994-06-30
Budget Start
1992-07-01
Budget End
1993-06-30
Support Year
21
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Rutgers University
Department
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
130029205
City
Newark
State
NJ
Country
United States
Zip Code
07102
Gloushankova, N A; Krendel, M F; Sirotkin, V A et al. (1995) Dynamics of active lamellae in cultured epithelial cells: effects of expression of exogenous N-ras oncogene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92:5322-5
Gloushankova, N A; Lyubimova, A V; Tint, I S et al. (1994) Role of the microtubular system in morphological organization of normal and oncogene-transfected epithelial cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91:8597-601
Malik, K F; Morrell, J I; Feder, H H (1993) Effects of clonidine and phentolamine infused into the medial preoptic area and medial basal hypothalamus of the guinea pig. Neuroendocrinology 57:177-88
Malik, K F; Feder, H H; Morrell, J I (1993) Estrogen receptor immunostaining in the preoptic area and medial basal hypothalamus of estradiol benzoate- and prazosin-treated female guinea-pigs. J Neuroendocrinol 5:297-306
Malik, K F; Morrell, J I; Feder, H H (1993) Effects of alpha-2-adrenergic drugs in the medial preoptic area and medial basal hypothalamus on lordosis in the guinea pig. Brain Res 628:26-30
Thornton, J E; Roy, M; Vincent, P et al. (1993) Idazoxan decreases estrogen-induced lordosis in female but not ""hormone-independent"" lordosis in male guinea pigs of an inbred strain. Psychoneuroendocrinology 18:115-21
Fitch, R H; Feder, H (1992) Neonatal prazosin exposure reduces ovarian weight and estrogen receptor binding in adult female rats. Int J Dev Neurosci 10:435-8
Tint, I S; Bonder, E M; Feder, H H et al. (1992) Reversible structural alterations of undifferentiated and differentiated human neuroblastoma cells induced by phorbol ester. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 89:8160-4
McCarthy, M M; Masters, D B; Fiber, J M et al. (1991) GABAergic control of receptivity in the female rat. Neuroendocrinology 53:473-9
McCarthy, M M; Curran, G H; Feder, H H (1991) Excitatory amino acid modulation of lordosis in the rat. Neurosci Lett 126:94-7

Showing the most recent 10 out of 33 publications