Poster Presentations

Session Title: Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration
Presentation Date: Friday, March 14 – Saturday, March 15, 2009

OESTROGEN RECEPTOR ALPHA IS INTEGRATED INTO CAVEOLAE OF HUMAN NEURONS ASSOCIATED WITH A VOLTAGE-DEPENDENT ANION CHANNEL (VDAC)

R. Marin¹, M. González², C.M. Ramirez¹, G. Santpere³, B. Puig³, I. Ferrer³, G. Meyer², R. Alonso¹, M. Díaz González^4
1La Laguna University, Physiology, La Laguna, Spain, ²La Laguna University, Anatomy, La Laguna, Spain, ³IDIBELL-Hospital, Bellvitge University, Institute of Neuropathology, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain, ⁴La Laguna University, Animal Biology, La Laguna, Spain

Increasing data in animal and cellular models have evidenced the participation of membrane estrogen receptor alpha (mER alpha) in neuroprotection against different insults. However, the molecular strategies to integrate this receptor into the plasma membrane remain unknown. Here, we have demonstrated in cortex and hippocampus of human brains the association of ER alpha with a voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) in caveolar domains. Scaffolded protein caveolin-1 was also part of this complex, probably contributing to mER alpha stability and functionality. Immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy confirmed the co-localization of these proteins. Together with previous data in murine neurons where we demonstrated, both, the involvement of VDAC in the modulation of amyloid beta (Abeta) neurotoxicity, and the role of mER alpha in estrogen neuroprotection against Abeta, these data confirm the relevance of mER alpha integration in neuronal caveolae in association with other modulators, as a crucial step to initiate estrogen alternative mechanisms related to brain preservation.
This work was supported by grants PI84/04, SAF2004-08316_C02-01, SAF2007-66148-C02-01; SAF2007-66148-C02-02.