TY - JOUR
T1 - Gonadal hormone-dependent sexual differentiation of a female-biased sexually dimorphic cell group in the principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in mice
AU - Morishita, Masahiro
AU - Maejima, Sho
AU - Tsukahara, Shinji
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial Support: This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (15K14556 and 17K08567 to S.T.).
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2017 Endocrine Society.
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - We recently reported a female-biased sexually dimorphic area in the mouse brain in the boundary region between the preoptic area and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST).We reexamined this area and found that it is a ventral part of the principal nucleus of the BNST (BNSTp). The BNSTp is a male-biased sexually dimorphic nucleus, but the ventral part of the BNSTp (BNSTpv) exhibits femalebiased sex differences in volume and neuron number. The volume and neuron number of the BNSTpv were increased in males by neonatal orchiectomy and decreased in females by treatment with testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, or estradiol within 5 days after birth. Sex differences in the volume and neuron number of the BNSTpvemerged before puberty. These sex differences became prominent in adulthood with increasing volume in females and loss of neurons in males during the pubertal/ adolescent period. Prepubertal orchiectomy did not affect the BNSTpv, although prepubertal ovariectomy reduced the volume increase and induced loss of neurons in the female BNSTpv. In contrast, the volume and neuron number ofmale-biased sexually dimorphic nuclei that are composed of mainly calbindin neurons and are located in the preoptic area and BNST were decreased by prepubertal orchiectomy but not affected by prepubertal ovariectomy. Testicular testosterone during the postnatal period may defeminize the BNSTpv via binding directly to the androgen receptor and indirectly to the estrogen receptor after aromatization, although defeminization may proceed independently of testicular hormones in the pubertal/adolescent period. Ovarian hormones may act to feminize theBNSTpvduringthepubertal/adolescentperiod.
AB - We recently reported a female-biased sexually dimorphic area in the mouse brain in the boundary region between the preoptic area and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST).We reexamined this area and found that it is a ventral part of the principal nucleus of the BNST (BNSTp). The BNSTp is a male-biased sexually dimorphic nucleus, but the ventral part of the BNSTp (BNSTpv) exhibits femalebiased sex differences in volume and neuron number. The volume and neuron number of the BNSTpv were increased in males by neonatal orchiectomy and decreased in females by treatment with testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, or estradiol within 5 days after birth. Sex differences in the volume and neuron number of the BNSTpvemerged before puberty. These sex differences became prominent in adulthood with increasing volume in females and loss of neurons in males during the pubertal/ adolescent period. Prepubertal orchiectomy did not affect the BNSTpv, although prepubertal ovariectomy reduced the volume increase and induced loss of neurons in the female BNSTpv. In contrast, the volume and neuron number ofmale-biased sexually dimorphic nuclei that are composed of mainly calbindin neurons and are located in the preoptic area and BNST were decreased by prepubertal orchiectomy but not affected by prepubertal ovariectomy. Testicular testosterone during the postnatal period may defeminize the BNSTpv via binding directly to the androgen receptor and indirectly to the estrogen receptor after aromatization, although defeminization may proceed independently of testicular hormones in the pubertal/adolescent period. Ovarian hormones may act to feminize theBNSTpvduringthepubertal/adolescentperiod.
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U2 - 10.1210/en.2017-00240
DO - 10.1210/en.2017-00240
M3 - Article
C2 - 28977609
AN - SCOPUS:85030643779
VL - 158
SP - 3512
EP - 3525
JO - Endocrinology
JF - Endocrinology
SN - 0013-7227
IS - 10
ER -