Wang Pei-Yu, Protheroe Anna, Clarkson Andrew N, Imhoff Floriane, Koishi Kyoko, McLennan Ian S
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Apr 28;106(17):7203-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0902253106. Epub 2009 Apr 9.
Many behavioral traits and most brain disorders are common to males and females but are more evident in one sex than the other. The control of these subtle sex-linked biases is largely unstudied and has been presumed to mirror that of the highly dimorphic reproductive nuclei. Sexual dimorphism in the reproductive tract is a product of Müllerian inhibiting substance (MIS), as well as the sex steroids. Males with a genetic deficiency in MIS signaling are sexually males, leading to the presumption that MIS is not a neural regulator. We challenge this presumption by reporting that most immature neurons in mice express the MIS-specific receptor (MISRII) and that male Mis(-/-) and Misrii(-/-) mice exhibit subtle feminization of their spinal motor neurons and of their exploratory behavior. Consequently, MIS may be a broad regulator of the subtle sex-linked biases in the nervous system.
许多行为特征和大多数脑部疾病在男性和女性中都很常见，但在某一性别中比另一性别更为明显。对这些微妙的性别关联偏差的控制在很大程度上尚未得到研究，并且一直被认为与高度二态性的生殖核的控制情况相似。生殖道中的性别二态性是苗勒氏管抑制物质（MIS）以及性类固醇的产物。MIS信号通路存在基因缺陷的雄性在性别上为雄性，这导致人们推测MIS不是一种神经调节因子。我们通过报告小鼠中大多数未成熟神经元表达MIS特异性受体（MISRII），以及雄性Mis(-/-)和Misrii(-/-)小鼠的脊髓运动神经元及其探索行为表现出微妙的女性化特征，对这一推测提出了质疑。因此，MIS可能是神经系统中微妙的性别关联偏差的广泛调节因子。
