Neural androgen receptor overexpression affects cell number in the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus.
J Neuroendocrinol
; 29(9)2017 09.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28833628
ABSTRACT
The spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) is a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system in which the masculinisation of cell number is assumed to depend on the action of perinatal androgen in non-neural targets, whereas the masculinisation of cell size is assumed to depend primarily on the action of adult androgen on SNB cells themselves. To test these hypotheses, we characterised the SNB of Cre/loxP transgenic mice that overexpress androgen receptor (AR) throughout the body (CMV-AR) or in neural tissue only (Nestin-AR). Additionally, we examined the effects of androgen manipulation in male mutants and wild-type (WT) controls. We reproduced the expected sex differences in both motoneurone number and size, as well as the expected adult androgen dependence of SNB size. We found effects of genotype such that both Nestin-AR and CMV-AR have more SNB motoneurones than WT littermates and also that CMV-AR females have larger SNB motoneurones than Nes-AR or WT females. These results raise the possibility that AR can act in neurones and/or glia to rescue SNB motoneurones, as well as on non-neural AR to increase SNB cell size.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Medula Espinal
/
Receptores Androgênicos
/
Caracteres Sexuais
/
Neurônios Motores
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Neuroendocrinol
Assunto da revista:
ENDOCRINOLOGIA
/
NEUROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá