Sep. 18, 2013 — The loss of estrogens at menopause increases a woman's risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, yet hormone replacement therapy can cause harmful side effects.
Knowing the exact mechanism of estrogen activation in the brain could lead to new targets for drug development that would provide middle-aged women the cognitive benefits of hormone replacement therapy without increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease or breast cancer.
In a new study, Karyn Frick, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), uncovers details about estrogen's role in the complex cellular communication system underlying memory formation.
"The receptor mechanisms that regulate estrogen's ability to enhance memory are still poorly understood," says Frick. "With this study, we've begun to sort out several of the key players needed for estrogens to mediate memory formation."
The research, published in the the Journal of Neuroscience today, focused on estrogen effects in a brain region called the hippocampus, which deteriorates with age or Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that each of the two known estrogen receptors rapidly activate a specific cellular pathway necessary for memory formation in the hippocampus of female mice, but only if they interact with a certain glutamate receptor, called mGluR1.
The study revealed that when this glutamate receptor is blocked, the cell-signaling protein ERK cannot be activated by the potent estrogen, 17
Knowing the exact mechanism of estrogen activation in the brain could lead to new targets for drug development that would provide middle-aged women the cognitive benefits of hormone replacement therapy without increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease or breast cancer.
In a new study, Karyn Frick, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), uncovers details about estrogen's role in the complex cellular communication system underlying memory formation.
"The receptor mechanisms that regulate estrogen's ability to enhance memory are still poorly understood," says Frick. "With this study, we've begun to sort out several of the key players needed for estrogens to mediate memory formation."
The research, published in the the Journal of Neuroscience today, focused on estrogen effects in a brain region called the hippocampus, which deteriorates with age or Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that each of the two known estrogen receptors rapidly activate a specific cellular pathway necessary for memory formation in the hippocampus of female mice, but only if they interact with a certain glutamate receptor, called mGluR1.
The study revealed that when this glutamate receptor is blocked, the cell-signaling protein ERK cannot be activated by the potent estrogen, 17