Previous work in the endocrine and neuroendocrine fields has viewed androgen receptors (AR) as a transcription factor activated by testosterone or one of its many metabolites. The bound androgen receptor acts as transcription factor and binds to specific DNA response elements in target gene promoters, causing activation or repression of transcription and subsequently protein synthesis. Over the past two decades evidence has begun to accumulate to implicate androgens, dependent or independent of the AR, in rapid actions at the cellular and organism level. Androgen's rapid time course of action; effects in the absence or inhibition of the cellular machinery necessary for transcription/translation; and/or the effects of androgens not able to translocate to the nucleus suggest a method of androgen action not initially dependent on genomic mechcanisms (i.e. non-genomic in nature). In the present paper the non-genomic effects of androgens are reviewed, along with a discussion of the possible role non-genomic androgen actions have on animal physiology and behavior.

Estrogens have numerous effects on the brain, both in adulthood and during development. These actions of estrogen are mediated by two distinct estrogen receptor (ER) systems, ER alpha (ERα) and ER beta (ERβ). In brain, ERα plays a critical role in regulating reproductive neuroendocrine function and behavior, however, a definitive role for ERβ in any neurobiological function has been slow in forthcoming. Clues to the function of ERβ in the central nervous system can be gleaned from the neuroanatomical distribution of ERβ and the phenotypes of neurons that express ERβ. ERβ immunoreactivity has been found in populations of GnRH, CRH, vasopressin, oxytocin and prolactin containing neurons in the hypothalamus. Utilizing subtype-selective estrogen receptor agonists can help determine the roles for ERβ in non-reproductive behaviors in rat models. ERβ selective agonists exert potent anxiolytic activity when animals were tested in a number of behavioral paradigms. Consistent with this, ERβ selective agonists also inhibited the ACTH and corticosterone response to stress. In contrast, ERα selective agonists were found to be anxiogenic and correspondingly increased the hormonal stress response. Taken together, our studies implicate ERβ as an important modulator of some non-reproductive neurobiological systems. The molecular and neuroanatomical targets of estrogen that are mediated by ERβ remain to be determined.A number of splice variants of ERβ mRNA have been reported in brain tissue. Imaging of eGFP labeled chimeric receptor proteins transfected into cell lines show that ERβ splice variation can alter trafficking patterns and function. The originally described ERβ (herein termed ER-β1) is characterized by possessing a high affinity for estradiol. Similar to ERα, it is localized in the nucleus and is trafficked to nuclear sites termed "hyperspeckles" following ligand binding. In contrast, ER-β2 contains an 18 amino acid insert within the ligand binding domain and as a result can be best described as a low affinity form of ERβ. A delta3 (δ3) variant of ERβ has a deletion of the 3rd exon (coding for the second half of the DNA binding domain) and as a result does not bind an estrogen response element in DNA. δ3 variants are trafficked to a unique low abundance and larger nuclear site following ligand binding. A delta4 (δ4) variant lacks exon 4 and as a result is localized to the cytoplasm. The amount of individual splice variant mRNAs varies depending upon brain region. Examination of neuropeptide promoter regulation by ERβ splice variants demonstrate that ERβ functions as a constitutively active transcription factor. Moreover, it appears that splice variation of ERβ alters its ability to regulate transcription in a promoter-dependent and ligand-dependent fashion.

Recent evidence suggests that the dynorphin-kappa receptor opioid system acts to mediate the inhibitory effect of progesterone (P) on GnRH pulse frequency during the luteal phase of the ovine estrous cycle. It is known that progesterone receptors (PRs) are required for the actions of P on GnRH secretion. Therefore, if P acts directly on dynorphin (DYN) neurons, then these neurons should contain PRs. To test this hypothesis, we used a dual-label immunoperoxidase procedure to visualize PRs and DYN in the preoptic area (POA) and hypothalamus of ovary-intact ewes killed during the luteal phase of the estrous cycle. The PR was colocalized in more than 90% of parvicellular DYN neurons in the POA, anterior hypothalamus (AHA), and arcuate nucleus (ARC). By contrast, none of magnocellular DYN cells of the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei coexpressed immunoreactive PRs. The high percentage of colocalization of PRs in parvicellular DYN cells of the POA, AHA, and ARC suggests that these cells are prime targets of P. In addition, DYN cells in the ARC, but not the POA or AHA, were found to receive synaptic inputs from DYN-positive axon terminals. This observation raises the possibility that an ultrashort feedback loop controls the release of DYN from ARC neurons.

Dynorphin A (DYN)-containing cells play a key role in conveying the negative feedback influence of progesterone upon pulsatile gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion in the ewe. A very high percentage of DYN cells in the arcuate nucleus express the progesterone receptor; another population of arcuate nucleus cells that also express steroid receptors in the sheep are those that express the tachykinin peptide, neurokinin B (NKB). Both DYN and NKB fibres have been shown to form close contacts with ovine GnRH cells. Therefore, the present study tested the hypothesis that neurones expressing NKB and DYN represent the same neuronal population in the arcuate nucleus. Confocal microscopic analysis of brain sections processed for dual immunofluorescence revealed that a large majority of DYN neurones in the arcuate nucleus were also immunoreactive for NKB. Likewise, a similar majority of NKB neurones in the arcuate nucleus were immunoreactive for DYN. By contrast, DYN cells in the preoptic area and anterior hypothalamus did not colocalise with NKB, nor did DYN cells in the paraventricular or supraoptic nuclei. Fibres that stained positively for both DYN and NKB were seen in the arcuate nucleus, where they formed close appositions with DYN/NKB-positive neurones, and in the external zone of the median eminence. Taken together with previous findings, these data suggest that a subpopulation of arcuate nucleus neurones coexpressing DYN and NKB mediate the negative feedback influence of progesterone on pulsatile GnRH secretion in the ewe and may also be involved in other feedback actions of gonadal steroids.