Ushimado Marine Institute (UMI), Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Setouchi, Japan.
Department of Physiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Spinal Cord. 2018 Jan;56(1):57-62. doi: 10.1038/sc.2017.105. Epub 2017 Sep 12.
Experimental animal study.
Although a population of gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) neurons in the lumbar spinal cord has an important role in erection and ejaculation in rats, little information exists on this GRP system in primates. To identify the male-specific GRP system in the primate spinal cord, we studied the lumbosacral cord in macaque monkeys as a non-human primate model.
University laboratory in Japan.
To determine the gene sequence of GRP precursors, the rhesus macaque monkey genomic sequence data were searched, followed by phylogenetic analysis. Subsequently, immunocytochemical analysis for GRP was performed in the monkey spinal cord.
We have used bioinformatics to identify the ortholog gene for GRP precursor in macaque monkeys. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that primate prepro-GRP is separated from that of other mammalian species and clustered to an independent branch as primates. Immunocytochemistry for GRP further demonstrated that male-dominant sexual dimorphism was found in the spinal GRP system in monkeys as in rodents.
We have demonstrated in macaque monkeys that the GRP system in the lower spinal cord shows male-specific dimorphism and may have an important role in penile functions not only in rodents but also in primates.
Tissues of Nihonzaru (Japanese macaque monkeys) were provided in part by National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) through the National Bio-Resource Project (NBRP) of the MEXT, Japan. This work was supported in part by KAKENHI from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (to KT; 15KK0343, 15J40220 and HS; 15K15202, 15KK0257, 15H05724).
实验动物研究。
尽管腰髓中的胃泌素释放肽（GRP）神经元在大鼠的勃起和射精中具有重要作用，但关于灵长类动物的这种 GRP 系统的信息很少。为了确定灵长类动物脊髓中的雄性特异性 GRP 系统，我们以非人类灵长类动物模型猕猴为研究对象，研究了腰骶髓。
日本大学实验室。
为了确定 GRP 前体的基因序列，我们搜索了恒河猴的基因组序列数据，并进行了系统发育分析。随后，我们在猴脊髓中进行了 GRP 的免疫细胞化学分析。
我们使用生物信息学方法鉴定了猕猴的 GRP 前体同源基因。系统发育分析表明，灵长类动物的前 GRP 与其他哺乳动物物种分离，并聚类到一个独立的分支，成为灵长类动物。GRP 的免疫细胞化学进一步表明，正如在啮齿动物中一样，猴子的脊髓 GRP 系统存在雄性主导的性别二态性。
我们在猕猴中证明，下脊髓中的 GRP 系统表现出雄性特异性二态性，并且可能在阴茎功能中具有重要作用，不仅在啮齿动物中，而且在灵长类动物中也是如此。
日本国立自然科学研究所（NINS）通过日本文部科学省（MEXT）的国家生物资源项目（NBRP）部分提供了 Nihonzaru（日本猕猴）的组织。这项工作得到了日本学术振兴会（JSPS）的部分资助（KT：15KK0343、15J40220 和 HS：15K15202、15KK0257、15H05724）。
