Estrogen regulates the expression of Ca_v1.2 in human U87 astroglial cells

Astrocytes are electrically non excitable cells but calcium signaling is widely considered a form of their excitability. Astroglial calcium signaling can be regulated by multiple pathway and the L-type Cav1.2 calcium channel is one of the most important mediator of calcium influx into astrocytes in central nervous system (CNS). A recent study demonstrated that 17β-Estradiol (E2) upregulated Cav1.2 protein mainly through estrogen receptor α (ERα) in rat-cultured cortical astrocytes. Given the larger and more complex architecture of human astrocytes than murine, here, we assessed the E2-mediated effect of Cav1.2 protein in human astrocytoma cell line U87-MG to examine whether there is species difference between rat and human by using Western blots. We found that in cultured U87 cells, E2 increased Cav1.2 protein though ERα like in primary cultures of rat cortical astrocytes. This provides further evidence about the effect of E2 on Cav1.2 protein in astrocytes.