Estradiol (E) mediates increased synaptogenesis in the hippocampal CA1 stratum radiatum (sr) and enhances memory in young and some aged female rats, depending on dose and age. Young females rats express more estrogen receptor α (ERα) immunolabeling in CA1sr spine synapse complexes than aged rats and ERα regulation is E sensitive in young but not aged rats. The current study examined whether estrogen receptor β (ERβ) expression in spine synapse complexes may be altered by age or E treatment. Young (3-4 months) and aged (22-23 months) female rats were ovariectomized 7 days prior to implantation of silastic capsules containing either vehicle (cholesterol) or E (10% in cholesterol) for 2 days. ERβ immunoreactivity (ir) in CA1sr was quantitatively analyzed using post-embedding electron microscopy. ERβ-ir was more prominent postsynaptically than presynaptically and both age and E treatment affected its synaptic distribution. While age decreased the spine synaptic complex localization of ERβ-ir (i.e., within 60 nm of the pre-and post-synaptic membranes), E treatment increased synaptic ERβ in both young and aged rats. In addition, the E treatment, but not age, increased dendritic shaft labeling. This data demonstrates that like ERα the levels of ERβ-ir decrease in CA1 axospinous synapses with age, however, unlike ERα the levels of ERβ-ir increase in these synapses in both young and aged rats in response to E. This suggests that synaptic ERβ may be a more responsive target to E, particularly in aged females.

Abstract17β-Estradiol (E) increases axospinous synapse density in the hippocampal CA1 region of young female rats, but not in aged rats. This may be linked to age-related alterations in signaling pathways activated by synaptic estrogen receptor α (ER-α) that potentially regulate spine formation, such as LIM-Kinase (LIMK), an actin depolymerizing factor/cofilin kinase. We hypothesized that, as with ER-α, phospho-LIMK (pLIMK) may be less abundant or responsive to E in CA1 synapses of aged female rats. To address this, cellular and subcellular distribution of pLIMK-immunoreactivity (pLIMK-IR) in CA1 was analyzed by light and electron microscopy in young and aged female rats that were ovariectomized and treated with either vehicle or E. pLIMK-IR was found primarily in perikarya within the pyramidal cell layer and dendritic shafts and spines in stratum radiatum (SR). While pLIMK-IR was occasionally present in terminals, post-embedding quantitative analysis of SR showed that pLIMK had a predominant post-synaptic localization and was preferentially localized within the postsynaptic density (PSD). The percentage of pLIMK-labeled synapses increased (30%) with E treatment (p<0.02) in young animals, and decreased (43%) with age (p<0.002) regardless of treatment. The pattern of distribution of pLIMK-IR within dendritic spines and synapses was unaffected by age or E treatment, with the exception of an E-induced increase in the non-synaptic core of spines in young females. These data suggest that age-related synaptic alterations similar to those seen with ER-α occur with signaling molecules such as pLIMK, and support the hypothesis that age-related failure of E treatment to increase synapse number in CA1 may be due to changes in the molecular profile of axospinous synapses with respect to signaling pathways linked to formation of additional spines and synapses in response to E. NY, 10029. Tel: 212-659-5985, Fax: 212-849-2510, Email: john.morrison@mssm.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. In the female rat hippocampus, dendritic spine density and synapse number in CA1 pyramidal neurons increase when levels of estrogen increase (Gould et al., 1990, Woolley and McEwen, 1992, Woolley et al., 1996, and the size of CA1 spines is also affected by estrogen (Mukai et al., 2007). ER-α and ER-β are both present in these same spines and synapses (Milner et al., 2001, Adams et al., 2002, Milner et al., 2005 and while ER-β also impacts synaptic plasticity in CA1 (Day et al., 2005, Szymczak et al., 2006, the estrogen-induced spinogenesis in CA1 is thought to be mediated primarily b...