This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by DonCarlos, L. L. Articles by Azcoitia, I. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by DonCarlos, L. L. Articles by Azcoitia, I. Pubmed/NCBI databases Gene GEO Profiles HomoloGene UniGene

Androgen Receptor Immunoreactivity in Forebrain Axons and Dendrites in the Rat

Department of Cell Biology (L.L.D.C.), Neurobiology and Anatomy, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Illinois 60153; Instituto Cajal (D.G.-O., L.M.G.-S.), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 28002 Madrid, Spain; Program in Neuroscience (S.S.), Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Illinois 60153; Departamento de Biología Celular (I.A.), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avenida Complutense 280040 Madrid, Spain

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: L. L. DonCarlos, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, 2160 South First Avenue, Maywood, Illinois 60153. E-mail: ldoncar{at}lumc.edu.

As members of the steroid receptor superfamily, androgen receptors (ARs) have been traditionally identified as transcription factors. In the presence of ligand, ARs reside in the nucleus, where, upon ligand binding, the receptors dimerize and bind to specific response elements in the promoter region of hormone-responsive genes. However, in this report, we describe the discovery that ARs are also present in axons and dendrites within the mammalian central nervous system. AR expression in axons was identified in the rat brain at the light microscopic level using two different antibodies directed against the N terminus of the AR protein and nickel intensified 3'-3'-diaminobenzidine, and also using fluorescence methods and confocal microscopy. This distribution was confirmed at the ultrastructural level. In addition, AR immunoreactivity was identified in small dendrites at the ultrastructural level. AR-immunoreactive axons were observed primarily in the cerebral cortex and were rare in regions where nuclear AR expression is abundant. The observation that ARs are present in axons and dendrites highlights the possibility that androgens play an important and novel extra-nuclear role in neuronal function.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. J. MacLusky, T. Hajszan, J. A. Johansen, C. L. Jordan, and C. Leranth Androgen Effects on Hippocampal CA1 Spine Synapse Numbers Are Retained in Tfm Male Rats with Defective Androgen Receptors Endocrinology, May 1, 2006; 147(5): 2392 - 2398. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Matejuk, C. Hopke, A. A. Vandenbark, P. D. Hurn, and H. Offner Middle-Age Male Mice Have Increased Severity of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis and Are Unresponsive to Testosterone Therapy J. Immunol., February 15, 2005; 174(4): 2387 - 2395. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. J. MacLusky, T. Hajszan, and C. Leranth Effects of Dehydroepiandrosterone and Flutamide on Hippocampal CA1 Spine Synapse Density in Male and Female Rats: Implications for the Role of Androgens in Maintenance of Hippocampal Structure Endocrinology, September 1, 2004; 145(9): 4154 - 4161. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]