Emerging concepts in the regulation of female sexual behavior

Recent advances in the field of steroid hormone action have significantly advanced our understanding of neuroendocrine regulation of sexual behavior in female rodents. The presumed classical steroid receptor-steroid hormone functional relationship has undergone significant modifications to integrate the wider context of cellular signaling mechanisms initiated by sensory and environmental stimuli and their transcriptional regulation of steroid hormone receptors in reproductive behavior. This effort has greatly been aided by recent studies identifying steroid hormone receptors as transcriptional mediators of a variety of ligands, whose functional flexibility is dependent upon their recruitment of coregulators, and the availability of gene knockout animal models. This review provides a framework for current concepts in the field of steroid hormone action in the context of their regulation of female sexual behavior.