Sex- and brain region-specific patterns of gene expression associated with socially-mediated puberty in a eusocial mammal

PloS One
Mariela Faykoo-MartinezMelissa M Holmes

Abstract

The social environment can alter pubertal timing through neuroendocrine mechanisms that are not fully understood; it is thought that stress hormones (e.g., glucocorticoids or corticotropin-releasing hormone) influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis to inhibit puberty. Here, we use the eusocial naked mole-rat, a unique species in which social interactions in a colony (i.e. dominance of a breeding female) suppress puberty in subordinate animals. Removing subordinate naked mole-rats from this social context initiates puberty, allowing for experimental control of pubertal timing. The present study quantified gene expression for reproduction- and stress-relevant genes acting upstream of gonadotropin-releasing hormone in brain regions with reproductive and social functions in pre-pubertal, post-pubertal, and opposite sex-paired animals (which are in various stages of pubertal transition). Results indicate sex differences in patterns of neural gene expression. Known functions of genes in brain suggest stress as a key contributing factor in regulating male pubertal delay. Network analysis implicates neurokinin B (Tac3) in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus as a key node in this pathway. Results also suggest an unappreciat...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Dec 6, 2018·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Mariela Faykoo-MartinezMelissa M Holmes
Jun 12, 2021·Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology·Mariela Faykoo-MartinezMelissa M Holmes
Apr 20, 2021·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Angela R Freeman

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
PCR
biopsy
Polymerase Chain Reaction
ELISA

Software Mentioned

gplots
Cytoscape
psych
R
Hmisc
stats
ggplot2
Network Analyzer

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