Biological Actions of Neurosteroids in the Growth and Survival of Purkinje Cells During Cerebellar Development

Abstract

Steroids synthesized de novo from cholesterol in the brain are called neurosteroids. To understand neurosteroid action in the brain, data on the regio-and temporalspecific synthesis of neurosteroids are needed. In the middle 1990s, the Purkinje cell, an important cerebellar neuron, was identified as a major neurosteroidogenic cell in the brain of vertebrates. Subsequently, neuronal neurosteroidogenesis and biological K. Tsutsui (