Genotypic sex shapes maternal care in the African pygmy mouse, Mus minutoides.

Sexually dimorphic behaviours, such as parental care, have long been thought to be mainly driven by gonadal hormones. In the past two decades, a few studies have challenged this view, highlighting the direct influence of the sex chromosome complement (XX versus XY or ZZ versus ZW). The African pygmy mouse, Mus minutoides, is a wild mouse species with naturally occurring XY sex reversal induced by a third, feminizing X* chromosome, leading to three female genotypes: XX, XX* and X*Y. Here, we show that sex reversal in X*Y females shapes a divergent maternal care strategy (maternal aggression, pup retrieval and nesting behaviours) from both XX and XX* females. Although neuroanatomical investigations were inconclusive, we show that the dopaminergic system in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus is worth investigating further as it may support differences in pup retrieval behaviour between females. Combining behaviours and neurobiology in a rodent subject to natural selection, we evaluate potential candidates for the neural basis of maternal behaviours and strengthen the underestimated role of the sex chromosomes in shaping sex differences in brain and behaviours. All things considered, we further highlight the emergence of a third sexual phenotype, challenging the binary view of phenotypic sexes.

Complementary actions of dopamine D2 receptor agonist and anti-vegf therapy on tumoral vessel normalization in a transgenic mouse model.

Angiogenesis contributes in multiple ways to disease progression in tumors and reduces treatment efficiency. Molecular therapies targeting Vegf signaling combined with chemotherapy or other drugs exhibit promising results to improve efficacy of treatment. Dopamine has been recently proposed to be a novel safe anti-angiogenic drug that stabilizes abnormal blood vessels and increases therapeutic efficacy. Here, we aimed to identify a treatment to normalize tumoral vessels and restore normal blood perfusion in tumor tissue with a Vegf receptor inhibitor and/or a ligand of dopamine G protein-coupled receptor D2 (D2R). Dopamine, via its action on D2R, is an endogenous effector of the pituitary gland, and we took advantage of this system to address this question. We have used a previously described Hmga2/T mouse model developing haemorrhagic prolactin-secreting adenomas. In mutant mice, blood vessels are profoundly altered in tumors, and an aberrant arterial vascularization develops leading to the loss of dopamine supply. D2R agonist treatment blocks tumor growth, induces regression of the aberrant blood supply and normalizes blood vessels. A chronic treatment is able to restore the altered balance between pro- and anti-angiogenic factors. Remarkably, an acute treatment induces an upregulation of the stabilizing factor Angiopoietin 1. An anti-Vegf therapy is also effective to restrain tumor growth and improves vascular remodeling. Importantly, only the combination treatment suppresses intratumoral hemorrhage and restores blood vessel perfusion, suggesting that it might represent an attractive therapy targeting tumor vasculature. Similar strategies targeting other ligands of GPCRs involved in angiogenesis may identify novel therapeutic opportunities for cancer.

Prolactin blood concentration relies on the scalability of the TIDA neurons' network efficiency in vivo.

Our understanding and management of reproductive health and related disorders such as infertility, menstrual irregularities, and pituitary disorders depend on understanding the intricate sex-specific mechanisms governing prolactin secretion. Using ex vivo experiments in acute slices, in parallel with in vivo calcium imaging (GRIN lens technology), we found that dopamine neurons inhibiting PRL secretion (TIDA), organize as functional networks both in and ex vivo. We defined an index of efficiency of networking (Ieff) using the duration of calcium events and the ability to form plastic economic networks. It determined TIDA neurons' ability to inhibit PRL secretion in vivo. Ieff variations in both sexes demonstrated TIDA neurons' adaptability to physiological changes. A variation in the number of active neurons contributing to the network explains the sexual dimorphism in basal [PRL]blood secretion patterns. These sex-specific differences in neuronal activity and network organization contribute to the understanding of hormone regulation.

Sustained elevated levels of circulating vasopressin selectively stimulate the proliferation of kidney tubular cells via the activation of V2 receptors.

The hypothalamic hormone vasopressin (AVP) has known mitogenic effects on various cell types. This study was designed to determine whether sustained elevated levels of circulating AVP could influence cell proliferation within adult tissues known to express different AVP receptors, including the pituitary, adrenal gland, liver, and kidney. Plasmatic AVP was chronically increased by submitting animals to prolonged hyperosmotic stimulation or implanting them with a AVP-containing osmotic minipump. After several days of either treatment, increased cell proliferation was detected only within the kidney. This kidney cell proliferation was not affected by the administration of selective V1a or V1b receptor antagonists but was either inhibited or mimicked by the administration of a selective V2 receptor antagonist or agonist, respectively. Kidney proliferative cells mostly concerned a subpopulation of differentiated tubular cells known to express the V2 receptors and were associated with the phosphorylation of ERK. These data indicate that in the adult rat, sustained elevated levels of circulating AVP stimulates the proliferation of a subpopulation of kidney tubular cells expressing the V2 receptor, providing the first illustration of a mitogenic effect of AVP via the activation of the V2 receptor subtype.

Hyperosmotic stimulus induces reversible angiogenesis within the hypothalamic magnocellular nuclei of the adult rat: a potential role for neuronal vascular endothelial growth factor.

BACKGROUND: In mammals, the CNS vasculature is established during the postnatal period via active angiogenesis, providing different brain regions with capillary networks of various densities that locally supply adapted metabolic support to neurons. Thereafter this vasculature remains essentially quiescent excepted for specific pathologies. In the adult rat hypothalamus, a particularly dense network of capillary vessels is associated with the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei containing the magnocellular neurons secreting vasopressin and oxytocin, two neurohormones involved in the control of the body fluid homoeostasis. In the seventies, it was reported that proliferation of astrocytes and endothelial cells occurs within these hypothalamic nuclei when strong metabolic activation of the vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic neurons was induced by prolonged hyperosmotic stimulation. The aim of the present study was to determine whether such proliferative response to osmotic stimulus is related to local angiogenesis and to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved. RESULTS: Our results provide evidence that cell proliferation occurring within the SON of osmotically stimulated adult rats corresponds to local angiogenesis. We show that 1) a large majority of the SON proliferative cells is associated with capillary vessels, 2) this proliferative response correlates with a progressive increase in density of the capillary network within the nucleus, and 3) SON capillary vessels exhibit an increased expression of nestin and vimentin, two markers of newly formed vessels. Contrasting with most adult CNS neurons, hypothalamic magnocellular neurons were found to express vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent angiogenic factor whose production was increased by osmotic stimulus. When VEGF was inhibited by dexamethasone treatment or by the local application of a blocking antibody, the angiogenic response was strongly inhibited within the hypothalamic magnocellular nuclei of hyperosmotically stimulated rats. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the functional stimulation of hypothalamic magnocellular neurons of adult rats induces reversible angiogenesis via the local secretion of neuronal VEGF. Since many diseases are driven by unregulated angiogenesis, the hypothalamic magnocellular nuclei should provide an interesting model to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of angiogenesis processes within the adult CNS.

Sustained alterations of hypothalamic tanycytes during posttraumatic hypopituitarism in male mice.

Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of hypopituitarism, which compromises patients' recovery, quality of life, and life span. To date, there are no means other than standardized animal studies to provide insights into the mechanisms of posttraumatic hypopituitarism. We have found that GH levels were impaired after inducing a controlled cortical impact (CCI) in mice. Furthermore, GHRH stimulation enhanced GH to lower level in injured than in control or sham mice. Because many characteristics were unchanged in the pituitary glands of CCI mice, we looked for changes at the hypothalamic level. Hypertrophied astrocytes were seen both within the arcuate nucleus and the median eminence, two pivotal structures of the GH axis, spatially remote to the injury site. In the arcuate nucleus, GHRH neurons were unaltered. In the median eminence, injured mice exhibited unexpected alterations. First, the distributions of claudin-1 and zonula occludens-1 between tanycytes were disorganized, suggesting tight junction disruptions. Second, endogenous IgG was increased in the vicinity of the third ventricle, suggesting abnormal barrier properties after CCI. Third, intracerebroventricular injection of a fluorescent-dextran derivative highly stained the hypothalamic parenchyma only after CCI, demonstrating an increased permeability of the third ventricle edges. This alteration of the third ventricle might jeopardize the communication between the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. In conclusion, the phenotype of CCI mice had similarities to the posttraumatic hypopituitarism seen in humans with intact pituitary gland and pituitary stalk. It is the first report of a pathological status in which tanycyte dysfunctions appear as a major acquired syndrome.

Pharmacological characterization of FE 201874, the first selective high affinity rat V1A vasopressin receptor agonist.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Distinct vasopressin receptors are involved in different physiological and behavioural functions. Presently, no selective agonist is available to specifically elucidate the functional roles of the V1A receptor in the rat, one of the most widely used animal models. FE 201874 is a new derivative of the human selective V1A receptor agonist F180. In this study, we performed a multi-approach pharmacological and functional characterization of FE 201874 to determine whether it is selective for V1A receptors. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We modified an available human selective V1A receptor agonist (F180) and determined its pharmacological properties in cell lines expressing vasopressin/oxytocin receptors (affinity and coupling to second messenger cascades), in an ex vivo model (aorta ring contraction) and in vivo in rats (proliferation of adrenal cortex glomerulosa cells and lactation). KEY RESULTS: FE 201874 exhibited nanomolar affinity for the rat V1A receptor; it was highly selective towards the rat V1B and V2 vasopressin receptors and behaved as a full V1A agonist in all the pharmacological tests performed. FE 201874 bound to the oxytocin receptor, but with moderate affinity, and behaved as an oxytocin antagonist in vitro, but not in vivo. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: On functional grounds, all the data demonstrate that FE 201874 is the first selective agonist of the rat V1A receptor isoform available. Hence, FE 201874 may have potential as a treatment for the vasodilator-induced hypotension occurring in conditions such as septic shock and could be the most suitable compound for discriminating between the behavioural effects of arginine vasopressin and oxytocin.

Characterization of adherens junction protein expression and localization in pituitary cell networks.

Our view of anterior pituitary organization has been altered with the recognition that folliculo-stellate (FS) and somatotroph cell populations form large-scale three-dimensional homotypic networks. This morphological cellular organization may optimize communication within the pituitary gland promoting coordinated pulsatile secretion adapted to physiological needs. The aim of this study was to identify the molecules involved in the formation and potential functional organization and/or signaling within these cell-cell networks. Here, we have focused on one class of cell adhesion molecules, the cadherins, since beta-catenin has been detected in the GH cell network. We have characterized, by qPCR and immunohistochemistry, their cellular expression and distribution. We have also examined whether their expression could be modulated during pituitary tissue remodeling. The mouse anterior pituitary has a restricted and cell-type specific repertoire of cadherin expression: cadherin-11 is exclusively expressed in TSH cells; N-cadherin displays a ubiquitous expression pattern but with different levels of expression between endocrine cell types; E-cadherin is restricted to homotypic contacts between FS cells; while cadherin-18 is expressed both in somatotrophs and FS cells. Thus, each cell type presents a defined combinatorial expression of different subsets of cadherins. This cell-type specific cadherin expression profile emerges early during development and undergoes major changes during postnatal development. These results suggest the existence within the anterior pituitary of cell-cell contact signaling based on a defined pattern of cadherin expression, which may play a crucial role in cellular recognition during the formation and fate of pituitary cell homotypic networks.