N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor blockade inhibits estrogenic support of dendritic growth in a sexually dimorphic rat spinal nucleus

The lumbar spinal cord of rats contains the sexually dimorphic, steroid‐sensitive spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB). Dendritic development of SNB motoneurons requires the action of both androgens and estrogens. Estrogenic effects are limited to the initial growth of SNB dendrites through 4 weeks of age. During this postnatal period, dendritic growth in other spinal motoneurons is regulated by N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation. In this study, we tested whether NMDA receptor activation was involved in SNB dendritic growth and whether the estrogenic support of SNB dendritic growth was dependent on the activation of NMDA receptors. Motoneuron morphology was assessed in normal males, intact males treated daily with the NMDA receptor antagonist MK‐801, castrated males treated with estradiol benzoate (EB), and castrated males treated with both EB and MK‐801. SNB motoneurons were retrogradely labeled with cholera toxin‐horseradish peroxidase at 4 weeks of age (when dendritic length is normally maximal) and reconstructed in three dimensions. Somal area and dendritic length of SNB motoneurons in MK‐801‐treated, intact males were below those of normal males. Dendritic growth was partially supported in EB‐treated castrates, but this growth was blocked by MK‐801 treatment. These results suggest that, as in other motoneurons, dendritic development in the SNB involves NMDA receptors and, furthermore, that the estrogen‐sensitive component of SNB dendritic development requires their activation. J. Comp. Neurol. 451:142–152, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.