Androgenic regulation of sexually dimorphic expression of RNA binding motif protein 48 in the developing mouse cortex and hippocampus. Issue 78 (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Franklin, Michael; Armoskus, Chris; Taniguchi, Saori; Moder, Courtney; Trang, Kathy; Santacruz, Marilisa; Milla, Allyson; Tsai, Houng-Wei
• Is Part Of: International journal of developmental neuroscience. Issue 78(2019:Nov.)
• Page Start: 33
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Sex difference -- Cerebral cortex -- Hippocampus -- Sex-biased gene -- RNA binding protein -- Androgen; Developmental neurobiology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurologie du développement -- Périodiques; Developmental neurobiology; Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2019.07.011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0736-5748

Abstract

Highlights: Rbm48 mRNA expression in the developing mouse cortex/hippocampus is female-biased. Prenatal testosterone reduces Rbm48 levels in the neonatal cortex/hippocampus. Postnatal testosterone increases Rbm48 levels in the juvenile cortex/hippocampus. Levels of steroid receptors and aromatase confer androgenic responsiveness of Rbm48 . Abstract: To further reveal the molecular mechanism underlying sexual differentiation of the mouse cerebral cortex and hippocampus, we reanalyzed our previous microarray study with Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment and found that the GO term "RNA binding" was over-represented among the 89 sexually dimorphic candidate genes. Thus, we selected 16 autosomal genes annotated to the term RNA binding and profiled their mRNA expression in the developing male and female mouse cortex/hippocampus. During the first three weeks after birth, sex differences in mRNA levels of Khdrbs2, Nanos2, Rbm48, and Tdrd3 were observed in the mouse cortex/hippocampus. Of these genes, only the female-biased expression of Rbm48 in neonates was abolished by prenatal exposure to testosterone propionate (TP), while postnatal treatment of TP three weeks after birth increased Rbm48 and Tdrd3 mRNA levels in both sexes. Regardless of sex, the postnatal cortex/hippocampus also showed a marked increase in the content of androgen receptor ( Ar ) and estrogen receptor β ( Esr2 ), but a decrease in estrogen receptor α ( Esr1 ) and aromatase ( Cyp19a1 ), which might confer the different responses of Rbm48 to prenatal and postnatal TP. Our results suggest that androgen-regulated, sexually dimorphic Rbm48 expression might present a novel molecular mechanism by which perinatal androgens control development of sexual dimorphism in cortical and hippocampal structure and function.