Neonatal testosterone masculinizes sexual behavior without affecting the morphology of the dorsal preoptic/anterior hypothalamic area of female ferrets.

We examined whether testosterone (T) administered to female ferrets neonatally--a treatment known to enhance masculine coital capacity--induces formation of the sexually dimorphic male nucleus in the dorsal preoptic/anterior hypothalamic area (MN-POA/AH), and/or sensitizes dorsal POA/AH neurons to the stimulatory effect of later androgen treatment on somal dimensions. In males, the MN-POA/AH was present in all subjects, and exposure to androgen following castration at postnatal day 56 (P56) increased both MN-POA/AH volume as well as mean somal areas of MN-POA/AH neurons relative to oil-treated controls. Females given androgen from P5 to P20 and for one month beginning after ovariectomy on P56 failed to develop the MN-POA/AH, but displayed high levels of masculine sexual behavior. Somal areas of dorsal POA/AH neurons in females that received either T or a control neonatally did not increase following androgen treatment at P56. Thus, the correlation that exists between somal enlargement of dorsal POA/AH neurons and masculine sexual behavior in androgen-treated males is not found in behaviorally masculinized females. Masculine coital ability does not appear related to aspects of dorsal POA/AH morphology, supporting data from a previous study in which lesions of the MN-POA/AH caused negligible deficits in masculine sexual behavior of adult male ferrets.

Estrogen receptor immunoreactive neurons in the fetal ferret forebrain.

The development of estrogen receptors was studied in the preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (POA/AH) of fetal male and female ferrets. In males this region includes a nucleus (MN-POA/AH), delineated by Nissl stains, which is not discernible in females. The results reveal the distribution of estrogen receptor containing cells during the period when estrogen is known to induce the differentiation of the male ferret's MN-POA/AH. Brains were taken from ferret kits on days 30, 34, 37 and 40 of a 41-42 day gestation, and were processed utilizing the H222 monoclonal antibody to reveal estrogen receptors. At E30 there were numerous H222 immunoreactive (ir) cells in central regions of the POA/AH. From E30 to E40 there was a striking increase in the number of H222ir cells in the POA/AH. A broad sweep of H222ir cells extended from the ventral POA dorsally and laterally into the caudal POA and AH of both males and females. H222ir cells were not restricted to the region of the MN-POA/AH at any fetal age. H222 immunoreaction product at E30 was restricted to nuclear compartments. By E40, H222ir processes extended from some cells with H222ir nuclei in the medial and lateral POA/AH in both males and females. At the older fetal ages immunopositive cell numbers increased in lateral positions. At E34 and E37 (but not E30) selective ventricular zones, and regions between the hypothalamus and amygdala contained H222ir cells, suggesting the presence of estrogen receptors in cells during migration. Although the amygdala contained a few H222ir cells as early as E34, the cortex lacked H222ir cells even as late as E40. The appearance of H222ir cells in positions suggestive of migration is consistent with the hypothesis that estrogen receptors play some role in determining cell positions in certain regions of the developing nervous system.

Plasminogen expression in the neonatal and adult mouse brain.

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) has been implicated in a variety of types of neural plasticity, including cell migration, occlusion-induced visual system plasticity, and learning. In the periphery, plasminogen serves as tPA's primary substrate; however, studies attempting to identify plasminogen in the central nervous system have produced mixed results. We have performed a comprehensive, multitechnique study examining plasminogen expression in the neonatal and adult mouse brain. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization reveal plasminogen mRNA in the cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum of both neonatal and adult C57BL/6 mice. Immunocytochemistry reveals plasminogen protein expression in these same brain regions. Notably, plasminogen expression in the cerebellum occurs in the granule cell and the Purkinje cell layers. tPA activity in these same regions is involved in granule cell migration during development and motor learning in adulthood. Therefore, these findings demonstrate that plasminogen is present in the central nervous system and localized to areas where it could serve as a substrate for plasticity-related increases in tPA activity.

Blockade of NMDA receptors in the anterior forebrain impairs sensory acquisition in the zebra finch (Poephila guttata).

Juvenile zebra finches (Poephila guttata) learn song in two stages: during sensory acquisition, they memorize the song of an adult tutor, and during sensorimotor learning, they alter their vocalizations to match the stored song model. Like many other forms of neural plasticity and memory formation, vocal learning in zebra finches is impaired by pharmacological blockade of NMDA receptors, but the relevant NMDA receptors have not yet been localized. During song development, one neural region that has been implicated specifically in song learning, the IMAN, exhibits an increased density of NMDA receptors as well as decreased binding affinity for the NMDA antagonist MK-801. To test the hypothesis that sensory acquisition requires activation of NMDA receptors in or near the IMAN we infused the NMDA receptor antagonist amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP5; 2.5 micrograms 0.1 microliter) directly into the anterior forebrain. Birds receiving AP5 infusions prior to each of 10 tutoring sessions copied significantly less of their tutor's song than did sham-operated birds, saline-infused birds, birds that received AP5 infusions on nontutoring days, or birds that received AP5 infusions into the cerebellum. Furthermore, infusions of AP5 in the anterior forebrain did not impair young birds' ability to discriminate zebra finch from canary song. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that NMDA receptor activation in the anterior forebrain is necessary for the memorization of song material during avian vocal learning. This is also the first report that song-related regions of the anterior forebrain contribute to sensory acquisition specifically.

Neuronal migration is retarded in mice lacking the tissue plasminogen activator gene.

Neuronal migration is a critical phase of brain development, where defects can lead to severe ataxia, mental retardation, and seizures. In the developing cerebellum, granule neurons turn on the gene for tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) as they begin their migration into the cerebellar molecular layer. Granule neurons both secrete tPA, an extracellular serine protease that converts the proenzyme plasminogen into the active protease plasmin, and bind tPA to their cell surface. In the nervous system, tPA activity is correlated with neurite outgrowth, neuronal migration, learning, and excitotoxic death. Here we show that compared with their normal counterparts, mice lacking the tPA gene (tPA(-/-)) have greater than 2-fold more migrating granule neurons in the cerebellar molecular layer during the most active phase of granule cell migration. A real-time analysis of granule cell migration in cerebellar slices of tPA(-/-) mice shows that granule neurons are migrating 51% as fast as granule neurons in slices from wild-type mice. These findings establish a direct role for tPA in facilitating neuronal migration, and they raise the possibility that late arriving neurons may have altered synaptic interactions.

Early sensory and hormonal experience modulate age-related changes in NR2B mRNA within a forebrain region controlling avian vocal learning.

Male zebra finches are most apt to mimic songs heard between posthatch days (PHD) 35 and 65, and this vocal learning depends, in part, on the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) within a discrete forebrain circuit that includes the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (lMAN) and area X. Using in situ hybridization, we show that transcripts for both the constitutive NMDAR subunit NR1 and the modulatory subunit NR2B decrease abruptly in the lMAN between PHD20 and 40. This downregulation corresponds to the onset of song learning and a transition from slow to faster NMDAR currents in lMAN neurons. In area X, NR1 mRNA increases as NR2B mRNA decreases during song development. To understand how these changes in NMDAR mRNA might regulate song learning, we next investigated how manipulations that influence song development affect NMDAR mRNA expression. Early isolation from conspecific song (which delays closure of the sensitive period for song learning) selectively increases NR2B, but not NR1 mRNA, within lMAN at PHD60. In contrast, exposure to testosterone beginning at PHD20 (which impairs song development and hastens the developmental transition to faster NMDAR current kinetics within lMAN) accelerates the decline in NR2B mRNA in lMAN, again without affecting NR1 transcript levels. Neither manipulation significantly effects NR1 or NR2B mRNA levels in area X. Our data suggest that developmental changes in the expression of specific NMDAR subunits may regulate periods of neural and behavioral plasticity and that flexibility in the timing of these sensitive periods may be achieved through experience and/or hormone-dependent modulation of NMDAR gene expression.

Developmental regulation of NMDA receptor 2B subunit mRNA and ifenprodil binding in the zebra finch anterior forebrain.

In passerine songbirds, song learning often is restricted to an early sensitive period and requires the participation of several discrete regions within the anterior forebrain. Activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is implicated in song learning and in one forebrain song region, the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (IMAN), NMDA receptors decrease in density, their affinity for the antagonist MK-801 increases, and their currents decay more quickly as young male zebra finches lose the ability to imitate new song elements. These developmental changes in NMDA receptor pharmacology and physiology suggest that the subunit composition of NMDA receptors changes developmentally. Here, we have used in situ hybridization and [3H]ifenprodil receptor autoradiography to study the developmental regulation of the NMDA receptor 2B subunit (NR2B) within the anterior forebrain of male zebra finches. NR2B mRNA expression within the IMAN was twice as great in 30-day-old males (early in the sensitive period for song learning) as in adult males, and this developmental decrease in NR2B mRNA expression was mirrored by a decrease in high-affinity (NR2B-associated) [3H]ifenprodil binding within this song region. In another anterior forebrain song region, Area X, NR2B mRNA also declined significantly after 30 days posthatch, but this decline was not accompanied by a significant decrease in [3H]ifenprodil binding. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that developmental changes in NMDA receptor function mediated by regulation of subunit composition contribute to the sensitive period for vocal learning in birds.

Ontogeny of the sexually dimorphic male nucleus in the preoptic/anterior hypothalamus of ferrets and its manipulation by gonadal steroids.

A sexually dimorphic nucleus exists in the dorsal region of the ferret preoptic/anterior hypothalamic area (POA/AH), and is called the male nucleus of the POA/AH (MN-POA/AH) because it is found only in males. Development of the MN-POA/AH was studied in male ferrets, and for comparison a sexually nondimorphic ventral POA/AH nucleus was studied in both sexes. The MN-POA/AH was conspicuous in males as early as embryonic day 37 (E37) of a 41-day gestation, and its volume increased until postnatal day 56 (P56). No nucleus was present in the dorsal POA/AH of females at any age. The densities and average somal areas of cells in the dorsal POA/AH were similar in males and females at E33, before the MN-POA/AH could be visualized. However, at E37 and E41 dorsal cells were greater in density and/or somal area in males than in females, accounting for the appearance of a nucleus in males at these ages. To insure that the dorsal POA/AH nucleus seen in males at E37 and E41 was the presumptive MN-POA/AH present in adult males, pregnant ferrets were given progesterone and either implanted subcutaneously (s.c.) with testosterone (T) or ovariectomized and implanted s.c. with the aromatase inhibitor, 1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione (ATD), on day 30 of gestation. As predicted from previous studies in which subjects were sacrificed in adulthood, formation of a dorsal POA/AH nucleus was promoted in female ferrets by T, and blocked in males by maternal ovariectomy and ATD treatment for animals sacrificed at E41. Much evidence suggests that behavioral sexual differentiation is accomplished in the male ferret between age E28 and P20. The MN-POA/AH is present and potentially functional in males during a considerable portion of this perinatal period.