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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Although various types of group living are widespread in mammals, including humans, the study of the hormonal and genetic underpinnings of nonsexual social behaviour, is in its infancy compared to the analysis of sexual behaviour mechanisms. Oxytocin, vasopressin and gonadal hormones certainly play an important role. Social recognition, where animals identify and recognize other individual conspecifics, is a crucial prerequisite for the occurrence of a wide range of social behaviours. Social recognition is also important for coping with one major cost of life in a group: the increased risk of exposure to parasites and infection. We review recent functional genomic studies on the involvement of oxytocin and oestrogen-receptor genes in the regulation of social recognition in mice and in the ecologically relevant context of parasite recognition and avoidance. Based on quantitative studies of social recognition with gene-knockout mice and with antisense DNA, we propose a four-gene micronet contributing to social recognition. This micronet involves the genes coding for oestrogen receptors alpha (ER-alpha), beta (ER-beta), oxytocin and the oxytocin receptor. In this model, circulating oestrogens promote transcription of (i) oxytocin in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus through ER-beta and (ii) oxytocin receptor in the amygdala through ER-alpha. This model forms the core around which increasingly complex genetic, hormonal and neural interactions associated with social behaviours and recognition can be organized.
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PMID:Functional genomics of social recognition. 1508 79

Social recognition, processing, and retaining information about conspecific individuals is crucial for the development of normal social relationships. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is necessary for social recognition in male and female mice, with its effects being modulated by estrogens in females. In previous studies, mice whose genes for the estrogen receptor-alpha (alpha-ERKO) and estrogen receptor-beta (beta-ERKO) as well as OTKO were knocked out failed to habituate to a repeatedly presented conspecific and to dishabituate when the familiar mouse is replaced by a novel animal (Choleris et al. 2003, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100, 6192-6197). However, a binary social discrimination assay, where animals are given a simultaneous choice between a familiar and a previously unknown individual, offers a more direct test of social recognition. Here, we used alpha-ERKO, beta-ERKO, and OTKO female mice in the binary social discrimination paradigm. Differently from their wild-type controls, when given a choice, the KO mice showed either reduced (beta-ERKO) or completely impaired (OTKO and alpha-ERKO) social discrimination. Detailed behavioral analyses indicate that all of the KO mice have reduced anxiety-related stretched approaches to the social stimulus with no overall impairment in horizontal and vertical activity, non-social investigation, and various other behaviors such as, self-grooming, digging, and inactivity. Therefore, the OT, ER-alpha, and ER-beta genes are necessary, to different degrees, for social discrimination and, thus, for the modulation of social behavior (e.g. aggression, affiliation).
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PMID:Involvement of estrogen receptor alpha, beta and oxytocin in social discrimination: A detailed behavioral analysis with knockout female mice. 1701 99

During neonatal development exogenous oxytocin increases ERalpha immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus of female prairie voles. The purpose of this study was to determine if the increase in ERalpha is associated with an increase in ERalpha mRNA expression and to determine if the effect is specific to ER subtype or if oxytocin also influences ERbeta mRNA expression. On the day of birth female prairie vole pups were treated with oxytocin, an oxytocin antagonist, or saline. Brains were collected and RT-PCR was used to determine the effect of treatment on ER mRNA production in the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and cortex. Within 2h of treatment oxytocin significantly increased ERalpha mRNA expression in the hypothalamus and hippocampus, but not the cortex, while inhibiting the effects of endogenous oxytocin reduced the expression of ERalpha mRNA in the hippocampus. Neonatal treatment did not affect the expression of ERbetamRNA. The results demonstrate that the effects of oxytocin treatment are region and ER subtype specific and that during the neonatal period oxytocin can affect the expression of ERalpha by altering message production. The regional specific changes in ERalpha mRNA expression in females are consistent with studies examining the behavioral and physiological effects of neonatal manipulation of oxytocin in females.
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PMID:Oxytocin selectively increases ERalpha mRNA in the neonatal hypothalamus and hippocampus of female prairie voles. 1710 10


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