| First Author | Szczypka MS | Year | 1998 |
| Journal | Behav Neurosci | Volume | 112 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1229-35 |
| PubMed ID | 9829800 | Mgi Jnum | J:51133 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1314754 | Doi | 10.1037//0735-7044.112.5.1229 |
| Citation | Szczypka MS, et al. (1998) Dopamine-stimulated sexual behavior is testosterone dependent in mice. Behav Neurosci 112(5):1229-35 |
| abstractText | Mice unable to synthesize dopamine (DA) in dopaminergic neurons were generated by gene-targeting techniques (Q.-Y. Zhou & R. D. Palmiter, 1995). These dopamine-deficient (DA-/-) mice required daily administration of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) for survival beyond 2 to 3 weeks of age. This treatment stimulated mounting and aggressive behavior of adult DA-/- males toward both male and female mice. Both a nonspecific DA agonist (apomorphine) and a specific D1 agonist (SKF81297) stimulated aggression and mounting behavior; however, a D2 agonist (quinpirole) was less effective. Castration of male DA-/- mice demonstrated that these L-DOPA-stimulated behaviors depend on testosterone. In addition, replacement of testosterone to castrated males showed that the testosterone-responsive pathways of DA- /- males were more sensitive to testosterone than wild-type mice. |
