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Differential Colocalization of Islet-1 and Estrogen Receptor in the Murine Preoptic Area and Hypothalamus during Development

Department of Biomedical Sciences (M.L.S., H.J.W., S.A.T.), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523; and Biology Department (A.M.D.), Framingham State College, Framingham, Massachusetts 01701

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Stuart Tobet, Ph.D., Colorado State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biomedical Sciences, 1680 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1680. E-mail: stuart.tobet{at}colostate.edu.

Estrogen receptor (ER) expression and regulation is vital to the correct functioning of the neuroendocrine brain. Islet-1 (Isl-1) is a LIM homeodomain-containing transcription factor that has been implicated in neuronal differentiation, is located in the hypothalamus, and can alter ER function in vitro. We have determined that Isl-1 is localized in several regions of the hypothalamus, including the ER rich areas of the ventromedial nucleus (VMH), the preoptic area, and the anterior hypothalamus. Using double-label immunocytochemistry, we examined the overlap between immunoreactive ER and Isl-1 in these different hypothalamic brain regions. In the developing brain, almost 100% of VMH cells that contain immunoreactive ER also contain Isl-1. However, in older animals, the percentage of double-label cells decreased below 70%. This change is due to a decrease in the number of cells containing Isl-1, because there was no difference in the number of ER-containing cells. By contrast, in more anterior regions of the hypothalamus, cells containing both Isl-1 and ER were less common, with the two populations adjacent to each other, rather than overlapping. These data suggest that, although Isl-1 and ER can interact, they are not always found in the same cells and that regulation of ER function is not under the same control in the VMH, preoptic area, and the anterior hypothalamus.

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