title: Male and female prolactin receptor mRNA expression in the brain of a biparental and a uniparental hamster, phodopus, before and after the birth of a litter.
abstract: Prolactin receptor (PRL-R) mRNA transcript level was quantified in the choroid plexus (ChP) of a naturally biparental hamster, Phodopus campbelli, and its otherwise similar, yet nonpaternal, sibling species, Phodopus sungorus. Pair-housed males and females on the day before the birth of their first litter (G17), the day after birth (L1), lactation day 5 (L5), and unpaired animals that were sexually naïve, were tested. PRL-R mRNA transcript level relative to total RNA, was evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using primers common to the long- and short-form of the PRL-R in Phodopus. In the ChP, a region implicated in prolactin transport into the central nervous system, females had the expected increase in PRL-R mRNA transcript from dioestrus to L5, consistent with known actions of prolactin. As predicted, males and females of the biparental species were similar, although PRL-R mRNA in naive males was higher than in dioestrus females. Males of the two species also differed as predicted. PRL-R mRNA transcript levels were higher in the biparental males. In addition, P. campbelli males had low PRL-R mRNA at G17 compared to L5. By contrast, non-paternal P. sungorus males had elevated PRL-R mRNA transcript levels on G17 relative to unpaired males. We conclude that PRL-R mRNA in the ChP is differentially regulated before and after birth in a paternal and a nonpaternal male.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Grattan
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Lovejoy
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Wynne-Edwards
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002831:Choroid Plexus / Q000502:physiology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D017111:Phodopus; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D011981:Receptors, Prolactin / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011981:Receptors, Prolactin