Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1993-2-23
pubmed:abstractText
In order to distinguish the effects of genetic sex from those of sex hormones on the sexual differentiation of dopaminergic neurons, catecholamine synthesis was studied in gender-specific cultures of embryonic day-14 rat diencephalon. In addition to embryos from normal dams, embryos were used whose mothers had been treated with the estrogen antagonist tamoxifen or the testosterone antagonist cyproterone acetate on days 12 and 13 of gestation. Cultures from embryos of untreated dams were fed daily with a medium containing 17 beta-estradiol or testosterone. After 10 days in vitro, cultures were immunostained for tyrosine hydroxylase and the accumulation of dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) was measured in the presence of the DOPA decarboxylase inhibitor NSD 1015. Rates of DOPA synthesis, unlike the numbers of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons, were markedly higher in female cultures under all experimental conditions. Treatment of dams with antisteroids prior to removal of the embryos had no influence on these results. Treatment of cultures with both steroids decreased DOPA formation in a dose-dependent manner without altering the sex difference. These results suggest that cultured diencephalic dopaminergic neurons develop sex differences in the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase. This sexual dimorphism is initiated independently on the activity of gonadal steroid hormones. Sex hormones exert an additional modulatory influence on the activity of the enzyme but do not abolish or reverse sex differences. Therefore, the concept of a purely epigenetic mode of sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain needs to be broadened to incorporate other mechanisms, such as the cell-autonomous fulfillment of a sex-specific genetic program.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Dec
pubmed:issn
0302-766X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
270
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
547-52
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1992
pubmed:articleTitle
Sex steroids do not alter sex differences in tyrosine hydroxylase activity of dopaminergic neurons in vitro.
pubmed:affiliation
Abteilung Anatomie und Zellbiologie Universität, Albert-Einstein, Ulm, Federal Republic of Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't