Molecular biological and molecular physiological analysis of the function of OXTR in maternal behavior and parturition.

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sing oxytocin receptor (OXTR)knockout mice and OXTR-Venus knockin mice, we analyzed the alteration in the expression of OXTR, when maternal behavior was induced after parturition. In the result, the number of Venus-positive cells, indicating expression of OXTR, increased significantly in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), known to be an essential region for maternal behavior, and in the supraoptic nucleus (SON), where most of OXT releasing cells are distributed, after parturition and during induction of maternal behavior. The increase of Venus-positive cells in MPOA and the SON in the virgin female mice after artificial (or forced)induction of maternal behavior were also detected. On the other hand, we newly cloned several TGF-beta related gene product as a potent"parturition-regulatory factors", from uterus of OXTR(-/-), Fp(-/-)double knockout female mice, prepared just after induced parturition.