Estrogen and Mitochondria: A New Paradigm for Vascular Protection?

Estrogen receptorα (ERα) is present in the mitochondria of cerebral blood vessels.A. A mitochondrial protein, subunit I of complex IV, and ERα are colocalized in the smooth muscle of a female rat pial artery by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Dual staining used a ERα antibody (green fluorescence) and an antibody to complex IV subunit I (red). The merged image shows co-localization (yellow). B. Enlarged image of a single smooth muscle cell (box in A) shows subunit I of complex IV (red). C. Identical cell as in B, revealing co-localization of ERα with complex IV subunit I (yellow). Only ERα (green) is present in the nucleus (asterisk). Reproduced (11) by permission of ASPET.