In
estradiol-primed nonreceptive ovariectomized rats, activation of
G protein-coupled
estrogen receptor 1 (GPER) in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) rapidly facilitates sexual receptivity (
lordosis).
Estradiol priming activates ARH β-
endorphin (β-END) neurons that then activate medial preoptic (MPN) μ-
opioid receptors (MOP) to inhibit
lordosis. ARH infusion of non-esterified 17β-estradiol (E2) 47.5 h after 17β-estradiol
benzoate (2 μg EB) priming deactivates MPN MOP and rapidly facilitates
lordosis within 30 min via activation of GPER. Since it was unclear where GPERs were located in the neuron, we tested the hypothesis that GPER signaling is initiated at the plasma membrane. Membrane impermeable
estradiol (17β-
estradiol conjugated to
biotin; E-
Biotin) infused into the ARH of EB primed rats facilitated
lordosis within 30 min, and MPN MOP was deactivated. These actions were blocked by pretreating with GPER antagonist, G-15. Further, we used cell fractionation and western blot techniques to demonstrate that GPER is expressed both in plasma membrane and cytosolic ARH fractions. In previous studies, the
orphanin FQ/
nociceptin-
opioid receptor-like receptor-1 (OFQ/N-ORL-1) system mediated
estradiol-only facilitation of
lordosis. Therefore, we tested whether the OFQ/N-ORL-1 system mediates E-
Biotin-GPER facilitation of
lordosis. Pretreatment of
UFP-101, an ORL-1 selective antagonist, blocked the facilitation of
lordosis and deactivation of MPN MOP by ARH infusion of E-
Biotin. Double-label immunohistochemistry revealed that GPER is expressed within approximately 70% of OFQ/N neurons. These data indicate that membrane GPER mediates the E2/E-
Biotin facilitation of
lordosis by inducing OFQ/N neurotransmission, which inhibits β-END neurotransmission to reduce MPN MOP activation.