Single transcript level atlas of oxytocin and the oxytocin receptor in the mouse brain
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States
- United States Department of Agriculture, United States
Abstract
Oxytocin (OXT), a primitive nonapeptide known to regulate reproduction and social behaviors, is synthesized primarily in the hypothalamus and is secreted via hypophyseal-portal system of the posterior pituitary gland. In line with the premise that pituitary hormones, traditionally thought of as regulators of single targets, display an array of central and peripheral actions, we found that OXT directly affects bone and body composition. The effect of OXT on bone remodeling are physiologically relevant, as elevated OXT levels during pregnancy and lactation cause calcium mobilization from the maternal skeleton for intergenerational calcium transfer towards fetal bone mineralization. There is an equally large body of evidence that has established the presence of OXT receptors (OXTRs) in the brain through which central functions, such as social bonding, and peripheral functions, such as the regulation of body composition, are exerted. To purposefully address effects of OXT on the brain, we used RNAscope to map OXT and OXTR expression, at the single transcript level, in the whole female and male mouse brains. Identification of brain nuclei with the highest OXT and OXTR transcript density sheds further light on functional OXT nodes that could be further interrogated experimentally to define new physiologic circuitry.
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files; source data files have been provided for Figures 1-4 and Supplementary Figures 1 and 2.
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Author details
Funding
National Institute on Aging (R01 AG071870)
- Tony Yuen
- Mone Zaidi
National Institute on Aging (R01 AG074092)
- Tony Yuen
- Mone Zaidi
National Institute on Aging (U01 AG073148)
- Tony Yuen
- Mone Zaidi
National Institute on Aging (U19 AG060917)
- Mone Zaidi
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK113627)
- Mone Zaidi
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All procedures were approved by the Mount Sinai Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and are in accordance with Public Health Service and United States Department of Agriculture guidelines.
Copyright
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
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Single transcript level atlas of oxytocin and the oxytocin receptor in the mouse brain
eLife 15:e95215.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.95215
