Molecular and cellular neurosciences
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Mol. Cell. Neurosci. · Dec 1990
Sex steroids and fos expression in the CNS of prepubertal and newborn rats.
Fos-like immunoreactivity (IR) within estrogen-concentrating regions of the hypothalamus and within sexually dimorphic regions of the hypothalamus and spinal cord was studied both as a function of estrogen treatment and during specific stages of postnatal development. Two sets of experiments were performed. First, Fos expression in the arcuate (Arc) and ventromedial (VMN) nuclei of the hypothalamus of 25-day-old female rats was examined 1, 3, and 6 h after estrogen treatment. ⋯ Specific patterns of staining were observed, some of which were different by 10 days after birth. Most striking was the striatum in which Fos-like IR cells were distributed in patches and along the border adjacent to the corpus callosum on Postnatal Day 0, but were no longer observed 10 days after birth. These data were confirmed by in situ hybridization studies in which the expression and distribution of c-fos mRNA in many of these areas were consistent with the distribution of Fos-like IR cells.