2008 Program: Workshop on Steroid Hormones and Brain Function
Breckenridge Workshop 2008 10-25-07
Final Program:
1) Title: Insect models for study of steroid hormone regulation of nervous system development, plasticity, and behavior (or Come FLY with Me!)
Chair: Susan E. Fahrbach, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem NC
Committee Liaison: Susan Fahrbach
Speaker Information:
Overview of invertebrate nuclear hormone receptors: phylogeny, vertebrate homologues, and getting the orphans out of the orphanage.
Susan E. Fahrbach, Department of Biology, Box 7325, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
Steroid hormone regulation of sodium channel expression.
Carsten Duch, Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Hormones and social insect life histories
Gro Amdam, Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ and Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
Steroid hormone regulation of neurometamorphosis
Karen A. Mesce, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, 1980 Folwell Ave, Room 219, St Paul, MN 55108
Summary: Despite a relatively small number of investigators, insect neuroendocrinology is flourishing. The field has recently been energized by the completion of several major insect genome projects, confocal microscopy, and renewed interest in studying the functional consequences of steroid hormone action on the nervous system using electrophysiology. Rather than focus on a single model system, this session is designed to acquaint workshop attendees with three major model systems: the honey bee, the hawk moth, and the fruit fly. Susan Fahrbach will introduce the invertebrate nuclear hormone receptors and discuss their evolutionary and functional relationships to the vertebrate receptors, with special emphasis on new information from the honey bee genome. Carsten Duch will focus on the insect ecdysteroid receptor and present new evidence on hormonal regulation of sodium channel expression during metamorphosis of the hawk moth. Gro Amdam will describe exciting new evidence for organizational effects of insect developmental hormones on the division of labor (pollen vs. nectar foraging) in honey bees. Amdam has recently and provocatively argued that this switch in foraging preference lies at the heart of the evolution of reproductive division of labor in social insects. Her work therefore provides an outstanding example of the integration of mechanistic and evolutionary interests in a single research program. Karen Mesce will present new evidence that ecdysteroids regulate neuronal migrations and ganglionic fusion during insect metamorphosis via transcriptional regulation of cell adhesion molecules.
2) Title: Peptide-steroid hormone interactions in the CNS
Chair: Andrew Russo, University of Iowa
Committee Liaison: Paul Mermelstein
Speaker Information:
Developing a potential mouse model for migraine: How will steroids fit in?
Andrew F. Russo, Professor and Director, Biosciences Program, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, 5-432 BSB, 51 Newton Road, University of Iowa, Iowa City IA 52242
Tel: 319-335-7872
Fax: 319-335-7330
andrew-russo@uiowa.edu
http://www.physiology.uiowa.edu/russo/
GABA receptor modulation of trigeminovascular nociception in migraine
Robin James Storer, Assistant Adjunct Professor, UCSF, Department of Neurology
505 Parnassus Avenue, Room M-798, San Francisco CA 94143-0114
Tel: 415-514-9752
Fax: 415-514-9751
storerj@neurology.ucsf.edu
http://www.ucsf.edu/
Sex, your brain and blood pressure
Meredith Hay, Vice President for Research, Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
University of Iowa, 201 Gilmore Hall, Iowa City IA 52242
Tel: 319-335-2119
meredith-hay@uiowa.edu
Selye and steroids--salt and sadness
Alan Kim Johnson, Professor, Departments of Psychology, Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Iowa, 11 Seashore Hall, Iowa City IA 52242
Tel: 319-335-2423
Summary: This session will address two disorders that have intriguing interactions between steroid and peptide systems. The first disorder will be migraine. The mechanisms underlying migraine, including the female prevalence of migraine, have remained a mystery. Progesterone and related steroids have been reported to be effective in migraine treatment; although these approaches are limited and are not used widely in clinical practice. These compounds could exert their effects through GABA A receptor neurosteroid binding sites or by allosteric NMDA receptor modulation. James Storer will discuss an experimental model of trigeminovascular nociception, important in migraine and related primary head pain, and the modulation of this nociceptive transmission that may explain some of the clinical effects of anti-migraine treatments. Recent clinical trials with antagonists against the neuropeptide CGRP receptor have opened a new perspective on migraine. Andrew Russo will discuss studies on developing a CGRP-based mouse model for migraine and the potential to examine contributions from steroids. The second disorder will be cardiovascular dysregulation. Meredith Hay will discuss the role and mechanisms of estrogen acting on central estrogen receptors within the PVN and SFO nuclei of the hypothalamus to modulate sympathetic outflow and the development of hypertension. In particular, the effects of estrogen on angiotensin II-mediated hypertension will be described. Finally, Kim Johnson will discuss the peptide angiotensin and the steroid aldosterone and their involvement in the co-morbidity of heart disease and psychological depression .
3) Title: Steroid hormones (or not) and the incredibly plastic adolescent brain
Chair: Cheryl L. Sisk, Michigan State University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, East Lansing MI 48824
Committee Liaison: Tracy Bale
Speaker Information:
The effects of pubertal ovarian hormones on the rat cerebral cortex and corpus callosum
Janice M. Juraska, University of Illinois, Department of Psychology, Champaign IL 61820
Not all changes during puberty are due to hormones: the dopamine receptor story
Susan Andersen, Mclean Hospital Harvard University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Belmont MA 02478
Puberty: a central event in shaping HPA reactivity
Russell Romeo, Barnard College of Columbia University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Behavior Program, New York NY 10027
“Early steroid dysfunction alters amygdala function. FMRI studies in Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia”
Monique Ernst, NIMH-NIH, Mood & Anxiety Disorders Program, Bethesda MD 20892
Summary: In the last decade, a greater appreciation has emerged for the profound development that takes place in the adolescent nervous system in both humans and rodents. In parallel to the maturation of the adolescent brain, neuroendocrine systems such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) and -adrenal (HPA) axes also continue to develop, leading to substantial changes is circulating steroid levels. Though steroids are potent modulators of neurobiological structure and function, it is unclear what role these pubertal changes in gonadal and adrenal steroids play in the maturation of the adolescent brain. In this session, we will discuss the contribution of both steroid hormone-dependent and -independent aspects of adolescent brain development and the ramifications of endocrine disorders and environmental perturbations during this key period of neurobehavioral development.
4) Title: Emerging roles for steroid binding globulins in the brain
Chair: Jack D. Caldwell, Department of Pharmacology, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, 1858 West Grandview Boulevard, Erie PA 16509
Tel: 814-860-5153
Fax: 814-860-8411
Neuroendocrine control and neurophysiological functions of sex hormone-binding globulin in brain
Committee Liaison: Bob Meisel
Speaker Information:
Emerging roles for steroid binding globulins in the brain
Jack D. Caldwell, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie PA 16509
Vasopressin; with all that steroid sensitivity there must be a steroid binding globulin somewhere
Geert DeVries, Professor of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA
The role of steroid hormone binding globulins in behaviorally-relevant actions of progestins and androgens
Cheryl Frye, Professor of Psychology, The University at Albany-SUNY, Albany NY
Expression and functional implications of steroid binding proteins in the rat olfactory system
Gustav F. Jirikowski, Professor of Anatomy, University of Jena, Jena Germany
Gustav.Jirikowski@mti.uni-jena.de
Summary: Steroid binding globulins such as sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG), and vitamin-D binding protein (DBP) have all been found to be made in the hypothalamus and other brain areas as well as in the olfactory system. There are at least three possible things that these steroid binding globulins are doing in the brain. First, they are made in brain cells for intercalation into the plasma membrane or release extracellularly in order to bind up excess steroids. Second, they are made in brain cells for release extracellularly where they bind to steroids for uptake into other cells. Once inside the other brain cells, they may interact with intracellular steroid binding proteins. Third, steroid binding globulins are released from brain cells to be bound by membrane-associated receptors on other cells where they stimulate cellular changes. These three potential pathways are not mutually exclusive and there is evidence supporting all three. This symposium will initiate an analysis of how these steroid binding globulins contribute to steroid actions in brain and how they may interact with other brain systems, such as neuropeptide receptors, neurotransmitter release and receptors, and intracellular receptors for steroids.
5) Title: Synthesis and signaling of estrogens in brain
Chairs: Paul Micevych; Paul Mermelstein
Committee Liaison: Paul Mermelstein
Speaker Information:
Paul G. Mermelstein, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, 6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church Street SE, Minneapolis MN 55455
Tel: 612-624-8977
Fax: 612-626-5009
Alan E. Herbison, Centre for Neuroendocrinology, Department of Physiology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054 New Zealand
Tel: 64-3-479-7312
Fax: 64-3-479-7323
Paul E. Micevych, Department of Neurobiology, UCLA, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90095-1763
Tel: 310-206-8265
Fax: 310-825-2224
Gabriele M. Rune, Institute of Anatomy and Cellular Neurobiology, University Medical Center, Hamburg Germany
Tel: 040-42803 - 3020 / 2575
Fax: 040- 42803 - 4966
Summary: The actions of gonadal hormones on brain function have classically been conceived as slow processes requiring activation of intracellular receptors with changes in gene expression and protein synthesis. Further, these effects were principally thought to be restricted to mediating primary or secondary sexual behaviors. Recent discoveries have determined that estrogens can trigger rapid signaling events, affecting a broad spectrum of brain function. This symposium will bring together four scientists from around the globe who have made significant strides in delineating the mechanisms of estrogen action in brain. Dr. Mermelstein will describe the means by which estrogen receptors are trafficked to the cellular membrane of neurons, with estrogen receptor alpha and beta acting on distinct intracellular signaling pathways. Dr. Herbison will reveal that estrogen receptor alpha and beta play unique physiological roles, with additional differences between neurons and glia, underlying both reproductive and non-reproductive behaviors. As a model for understanding the effects of estrogens throughout the nervous system, Dr. Micevych will characterize how classical and novel mechanisms of estrogen action interact to regulate reproduction. Dr. Rune will demonstrate the synthesis of estrogens in brain, allowing for both localized and rapid modulation of neuroendocrine signaling. The topics are specifically designed to foster lively discussion among the participants and attendees.
6) Title: Interaction between metabolic and gonadal hormones
Chair: Tamas Horvath, Chairman, Section of Comparative Medicine Professor of Comparative Medicine, Ob/Gyn and Neurobiology Yale University School of Medicine, 375 Congress Avenue, LSOG 117, PO Box 208016, New Haven CT 06510-8016
Tel: 203-785-2525 (office)
Tel: 203-785-4597 (lab)
Fax: 203-785-7499 (office)
Fax: 203-785-4747 (lab)
Committee Liaison: Schmidt
Speaker Information:
PYY regulates bone turnover in rodents
Mark Sleeman,
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.; 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591
Tel: 914-345-7446
Fax: 914- 347-5045
Estrogen activates STAT3 while promoting satiety
Qian Gao,
Section of Comparative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520
The role of corticosteroids in the induction of UCP2 activity in NPY/AgRP and POMC neurons
Sabrina Diano,
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Tel: 203-737-1216
Fax: 203-787-4747
Stress and obesity: The ghrelin connection
Alfonso Abizaid, 106D Social Sciences Research Building, 125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa Ontario K1S 5B6 Canada
Tel: 613-520-2600 ext. 1544
Fax: 6130-520-3667
Summary: This session will focus on new developments regarding the mechanism of action of brain-active peripheral hormones in altering various tissue functions and behaviors. The overlapping mode of action and physiological relevance of two gut hormones, ghrelin and peptide YY, and two steroid hormones, estradiol and corticosterone, will be discussed through four presentations by Drs Qian Gao, Sabrina Diano, Alfonso Abizaid and Mark Sleeman. The physiological relevance of these mechanisms will be discussed in relation to metabolic disorders, stress and bone physiology.
7) Fast actions of glucocorticoids
Chair: Jeffrey G. Tasker, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, 2000 Percival Stern Hall, Tulane University, New Orleans LA 70118
Tel: 504-862-8726
Fax: 504-865-6785
Committee Liaison: Tracy Bale
Speakers:
Rapid actions of cortisol in toadfishes: from neural circuits to acoustic interactions with a primary predator
Luke Remage-Healey, Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, UCLA, Los Angeles CA
Tel: 310-825-4170
Fax: 310-206-3095
Corticosteroid regulation of monoamine clearance via actions on organic cation transporters
Miles Orchinik, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
Tel: 480-965-5084
Fax: 480-965-2519
Cannabinoids mediate rapid behavioral effects of corticosterone
Emma Coddington, Department of Physiology, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin New Zealand
Rapid, synapse-specific glucocorticoid regulation of glutamate and GABA inputs via endocannabinoids and nitric oxide
Jeff Tasker, Department of Cell & Molecular Biology, Neuroscience Program, Tulane University, New Orleans LA
Tel: 504-862-8726
Fax: 504-865-6785
Summary: Glucocorticoid hormones exert both rapid and delayed actions in target cells. The delayed glucocorticoid actions are mediated generally by classical intracellular glucocorticoid receptors that, when activated, regulate transcription factor activity or bind directly to a DNA response element and serve as a direct transcriptional regulator. Conversely, rapid steroid actions, which occur on the order of minutes, are inconsistent with steroid transcriptional effects and suggest the involvement of one or more membrane-associated receptors. This session focuses on the evidence gathered across multiple species for rapid glucocorticoid actions that are mediated by putative membrane-associated steroid receptors and the activation of downstream cell regulatory mechanisms. Topics to be discussed include rapid corticosteroid actions on neural circuits involved in vocalization in fish (Luke Remage-Healey); rapid corticosteroid inhibition of serotonin transport in the rat dorsomedial hypothalamus (Miles Orchinik); the endocannabinoid dependence of rapid glucocorticoid-induced inhibition of reproductive behavior in newts (Emma Coddington); and the rapid glucocorticoid-induced endocannabinoid and nitric oxide modulation of glutamate and GABA circuits in the rat hypothalamus.
8) Young investigator symposium
Committee Liaison: Paul Mermelstein