Mitochondrial estrogen receptors as a vulnerability factor of chronic stress and mediator of fluoxetine treatment in female and male rat hippocampus.

Depression is a disease of an abnormal brain energy metabolism also marked with increased apoptosis in specific brain regions. Mounting evidence indicates that the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and apoptosis are novel targets for the actions of estrogen receptors (ERs). In this study, we examined the effects of antidepressant (AD) fluoxetine (FLU) treatment on the mitochondrial ER alpha (ERα), ER beta (total and phospho-pERβ) and their association with cytochrome c (cyt c) oxidase activity and apoptotic Bcl2/Bax-molecules in the hippocampal mitochondria of chronically isolated (CPSI) female and male rats depicting depression. Impaired behaviour induced by CPSI was followed by decreased corticosterone (CORT) in both sexes and downregulation of cyt c oxidase in males. CPSI did not affect the ERα in either of sexes, but it decreased mitochondrial ERβ and increased pERβ in both sexes. Stress-reduced ERβ is associated with a decrease in mitochondrial energetic processes in males and with apoptotic mechanisms in females. FLU normalized behaviour in both sexes and increased cyt c oxidase in females. FLU elevated ERα in males, increased ERβ and decreased pERβ in both sexes. The AD-induced alterations of ERβ paralleled with bioenergetics and pro-survival pathways in females. In conclusion, sex-unspecific regulation of ERβ by the stress and by AD and its differential convergence with bioenergetics and apoptotic pathways in females and males implies its role as a vulnerability factor in the stress response and emphasizes mitochondrial ERβ-dependent pathways as an important gateway of ADs action, at least in females.