Department of Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.
J Comp Neurol. 2013 Feb 1;521(2):465-78. doi: 10.1002/cne.23185.
The rodent amygdaloid complex is composed of numerous subnuclei important for the sex-specific regulation of sociosexual behavior. Although estrogen receptors (ERs) are critical for organizing functional and cytoarchitectural sex differences in these subnuclei, a detailed developmental profile of ER expression in the amygdaloid complex is not available. Moreover, the kisspeptin gene (Kiss1) was recently identified in the adult amygdala, but it remains unknown if it is expressed during development. To fill these data gaps, rat brains (5-7/group) were assessed on postnatal days (PNDs) 0, 2, 4, 7, and 19 for ER alpha (ERα; Esr1), beta (ERβ; Esr2), and Kiss1 expression using in situ hybridization. Expression was quantified in the posterodorsal portion of the medial amygdala posterodorsal (MePD), lateral (PLCo), and medial (PMCo) components of the posterior cortical nucleus, and the amygdalohippocampal area (AHi). ERα expression was high throughout the amygdala at birth, but sexually dimorphic only in the AHi. ERα expression in the MePD and the PLCo showed a U-shaped expression pattern over time. In the PMCo, ERα expression decreased from PND 2 and remained low through PND 19. Sexually dimorphic expression of ERβ in the MePD was observed on PND 0, with higher levels in females, but reversed by PND 4 due to declining levels in females. No Kiss1 signal was observed in the postnatal amygdala, suggesting that expression arises after puberty. These data reveal that ER expression is region-specific within the neonatal amygdala. These differences likely contribute to sex differences in sociosexual behavior across the lifespan.
啮齿动物杏仁核复合体由许多亚核组成,这些亚核对于社会性行为的性别特异性调节至关重要。尽管雌激素受体(ERs)对于这些亚核中功能和细胞构筑的性别差异的组织化是至关重要的,但 ER 在杏仁核复合体中的表达的详细发育概况尚不清楚。此外,成年杏仁核中最近发现了 kisspeptin 基因(Kiss1),但它在发育过程中是否表达尚不清楚。为了填补这些数据空白,在出生后第 0、2、4、7 和 19 天(PND)评估了大鼠大脑(每组 5-7 只)的 ERα(ERα;Esr1)、β(ERβ;Esr2)和 Kiss1 表达,使用原位杂交。在杏仁核后背部的后皮质核的后外侧(MePD)、外侧(PLCo)和内侧(PMCo)成分以及杏仁核海马区(AHi)中定量表达。ERα 在出生时在整个杏仁核中表达较高,但仅在 AHi 中表现出性别二态性。MePD 和 PLCo 中的 ERα 表达随着时间呈 U 形变化。在 PMCo 中,ERα 表达从 PND2 开始下降,并持续到 PND19。在 MePD 中观察到 ERβ 的性别二态性表达在 PND0 时出现,女性水平较高,但在 PND4 时由于女性水平下降而逆转。在出生后的杏仁核中未观察到 Kiss1 信号,表明表达发生在青春期之后。这些数据表明,ER 表达在新生杏仁核内具有区域特异性。这些差异可能有助于一生中社会性行为的性别差异。