G protein-coupled estrogen receptor is required for the neuritogenic mechanism of 17β-estradiol in developing hippocampal neurons

•GPER regulates neurogenin 3 expression and neuritogenesis in hippocampal neurons.•GPER mediates the effect of estradiol on neurogenin 3 expression and neuritogenesis.•GPER regulates PI3K signaling in hippocampal neurons.•PI3K mediates the effect of estradiol on neurogenin 3 expression and neuritogenesis.

Estradiol promotes neuritogenesis in developing hippocampal neurons by a mechanism involving the upregulation of neurogenin 3, a Notch-regulated transcription factor. In this study we have explored whether G-protein coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER) participates in this hormonal action. GPER agonists (17β-estradiol, G1, ICI 182,780) increased neurogenin 3 expression and neuritogenesis in mouse primary hippocampal neurons and this effect was blocked by the GPER antagonist G15 and by a siRNA for GPER. In addition, GPER agonists increased Akt phosphorylation in ser473, which is indicative of the activation of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K). G15 or GPER silencing prevented the estrogenic induction of Akt phosphorylation. Furthermore, the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin prevented the effect of G1 and estradiol on neurogenin 3 expression and the effect of estradiol on neuritogenesis. These findings suggest that GPER participates in the control of hippocampal neuritogenesis by a mechanism involving the activation of PI3K signaling.