DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Hormonal Regulation of Avian Biparental Care

论文研究：鸟类双亲护理的激素调节

• 批准号: 1501336
• 负责人: Elizabeth Adkins-Regan
• 金额: $ 1.93万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-15 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1501336&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Hormonal; Regulation; Avian

Parental care is an important component of reproduction that is observed in a diverse range of animals and is especially common in birds. The neural and hormonal basis of avian parental care is not well understood, especially in the many birds where young are raised by both mothers and fathers working together. The hormone prolactin has a well-established role in maternal care in mammals, and so prolactin and its brain receptors are a promising candidate mechanism of parental care to investigate in birds. The goal of this research is to experimentally test for a causal role of prolactin in promoting the onset of parental behavior in a biparental songbird, the zebra finch. This research will provide new insight into the mechanisms of avian parental care, allowing the integration of this important group into the comparative framework that will provide the predictive power for understanding how these mechanisms may function and evolve in other animals, including humans. The project will contribute to the scientific training of undergraduates, including women and underrepresented minorities. Additionally, the results will be promptly published in journals accessed by a broad audience of researchers, presented at national meetings, and disseminated to the public through a website and outreach programs for middle school girls. The researchers determined that circulating prolactin (PRL) is significantly higher in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) during late incubation and early post-hatching care compared to other times in the breeding cycle. To test the hypothesis that PRL plays a causal role in promoting the onset of parental behavior, they will perform two experiments testing the effect of suppressing the normal peak in PRL during late stage incubation in breeding birds, and experimentally increasing PRL in paired, but non-breeding, birds given foster chicks. Parental behavior will be recorded in the nests with small video cameras. To confirm that the treatments have the predicted effect on PRL concentrations, plasma will be assayed before and after treatment using a validated ELISA. On the last day of treatment brains will be collected to determine the effect on central PRL-mediated cell signaling via the PRL receptor using immunohistochemistry. All recordings and data in digital form will be archived at Cornell University to allow public access using the archiving services of the CU Library.

父母的护理是繁殖的重要组成部分，在各种动物范围内观察到，在鸟类中尤其常见。鸟类父母护理的神经和荷尔蒙基础尚不清楚，尤其是在众多的鸟类中，父母和父亲一起养育了年轻人。激素催乳素在哺乳动物的母体护理中具有完善的作用，因此催乳素及其大脑受体是一种有希望的候选父母护理机制，可以在鸟类中进行研究。这项研究的目的是实验测试催乳素在促进两种词鸟斑马鳍鸟中促进父母行为发作中的因果作用。这项研究将提供对鸟类父母护理机制的新见解，从而使该重要群体融入比较框架中，这将提供预测能力，以了解这些机制如何在包括人类在内的其他动物中起作用和发展。该项目将有助于包括妇女和代表性不足的少数民族在内的本科生的科学培训。此外，结果将迅速在全国会议上介绍，在全国会议上介绍的期刊上迅速发表，并通过网站和针对中学女孩的外展计划传播给公众。研究人员确定，与育种周期中的其他时代相比，在孵化晚期和早期孵化后的斑马雀（Taeniopygia guttata）中，循环催乳素（PRL）明显更高。为了检验PRL在促进父母行为发作中起因果作用的假设，他们将执行两个实验，以测试在繁殖鸟类中抑制PRL正常峰的效果，并在繁殖鸟类中孵育，并在成对但非繁殖的鸟类中养育鸟类的鸟类中的PRL。父母的行为将记录在带有小型摄像机的巢中。为了确认治疗对PRL浓度的预测影响，将使用经过验证的ELISA处理前后的血浆。在治疗的最后一天，将收集大脑，以确定使用免疫组织化学通过PRL受体对中央PRL介导的细胞信号传导的影响。所有数字形式的录音和数据都将在康奈尔大学归档，以允许使用CU库的归档服务进行公开访问。