| First Author | Ribeiro AC | Year | 2012 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 109 |
| Issue | 40 | Pages | 16324-9 |
| PubMed ID | 22988120 | Mgi Jnum | J:190106 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5448084 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.1214094109 |
| Citation | Ribeiro AC, et al. (2012) siRNA silencing of estrogen receptor-alpha expression specifically in medial preoptic area neurons abolishes maternal care in female mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(40):16324-9 |
| abstractText | The medial preoptic area has been shown to be intricately involved in many behaviors, including locomotion, sexual behavior, maternal care, and aggression. The gene encoding estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) protein is expressed in preoptic area neurons, and a very dense immunoreactive field of ERalpha is found in the preoptic region. ERalpha knockout animals show deficits in maternal care and sexual behavior and fail to exhibit increases in these behaviors in response to systemic estradiol treatment. In the present study, we used viral-vector mediated RNA interference to silence ERalpha expression specifically in the preoptic area of female mice and measured a variety of behaviors, including social and sexual aggression, maternal care, and arousal activity. Suppression of ERalpha in the preoptic area almost completely abolished maternal care, significantly increasing the latency to pup retrieval and significantly reducing the time the moms spent nursing and licking the pups. Strikingly, maternal aggression toward a male intruder was not different between control and preoptic ERalpha-silenced mice, demonstrating the remarkably specific role of ERalpha in these neurons. Reduction of ERalpha expression in preoptic neurons significantly decreased sexual behavior in female mice and increased aggression toward both sexual partners and male intruders in a seminatural environment. Estrogen-dependent increases in arousal, measured by home cage activity, were not mediated by ERalpha expression in the preoptic neurons we targeted, as ERalpha-suppressed mice had increases similar to control mice. Thus, we have established that a specific gene in a specific group of neurons is required for a crucially important natural behavior. |
