Progesterone receptor: some viewpoints on hypothalamic seasonal fluctuations in a lower vertebrate.

Steroids secreted by the ovary, specifically estrogen and progesterone, influence the expression of behaviors associated with reproduction by interacting with a specific binding protein, or receptor, located in target cells in certain hypothalamic nuclei. The present paper reviews the progesterone receptor studies in the vertebrates brain, the progesterone receptor fluctuations throughout the reproductive cycle and suggests a role for progesterone receptors in the regulation of hypothalamic functions in amphibians. Furthermore, we report here a combined biochemical and immunohistochemical analysis of the hypothalamic progesterone receptor during the reproductive cycle of a lower vertebrate, the female amphibian anura Rana esculenta. 3H-Progesterone binding activity was found in both cytosol and nuclear extract samples. The progesterone binding moiety showed typical characteristics of a true receptor, such as high affinity, low capacity and specificity for progesterone. Further characterization was performed by using monoclonal antiserum raised against both the subunits A and B of the chicken progesterone receptor. Immunostained neurons were located mainly in two specific regions of the hypothalamus: the preoptic area and the infundibular hypothalamus. An immunoreactive band of about 67 kDa was observed using Western blotting, both in the cytosol and in the nuclear extract. Progesterone receptor levels fluctuated throughout the cycle along with plasma steroids and vitellogenin synthesis.