FIG. 6.

The neuroprotective effects of estrone are mediated by the ERK signaling pathway. We found that after injury, estrone significantly increased the levels of phospho-ERK (A; p<0.01), phospho-CREB (B; p<0.021), and subsequent BDNF expression (p<0.0006) in the cerebral cortex. One-way analysis of variance with Tukey's post-hoc test was used to determine if the observations were significantly different (n=6 for non-injured controls, 8 for shams, 10 for placebo, and 9 for estrone; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; CREB, cyclic adenosine monophosphate-responsive element-binding; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor).