[Physiological importance of numerous sex hormone receptors].

Numerous effects of sex hormones on the brain are mediated by interaction with intracellular steroid hormone receptors acting as regulators of transcription. These are the classical receptors ERalpha, ERbeta and ERgamma. Some estrogenic effects cannot be attributed to ERalpha or ERbeta, this suggests the existens of additional receptor subtypes. Rapid effects of estrogen could be explained by the presence of plasma membrane-associated ERs, that may be coupled to downstrem signal transduction pathways typically associated with rapid activation by growth factors and neurotransmitters. Both nuclear and plasma-membrane-associated ERs probably originate from the same gene and transcript that produce ERalpha and ERbeta.