A Unique Natural Model for Studying the Mechanisms Underlying Social Behavior

研究社会行为背后机制的独特自然模型

• 批准号: 8213453
• 负责人: DONNA L MANEY
• 金额: $ 38.36万
• 依托单位: EMORY UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-04-15 至 2014-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8213453
• 关键词: Adult; Affect; Aggressive behavior; Amino Acid Sequence; Amygdaloid structure; Animal Model; Animals; Behavior; Behavioral; Biological; Birds; Brain; Brain region; Caring; Chromosomal Rearrangement; Chromosome inversion; Chromosomes; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 2; Code; Collaborations; Color; DNA Sequence Rearrangement; Data; Dental crowns; Development; Enzymes; Estrogen Receptor alpha; Estrogen Receptors; Exhibits; Female; Foundations; Future; Gene Expression; Genes; Genetic; Genetic Drift; Genetic Polymorphism; Genetic Recombination; Goals; Gonadal Steroid Hormones; Habitats; Health; Heterozygote; Hormonal; Hormones; Housing; Human; Hypothalamic structure; In Situ Hybridization; Individual; Laboratories; Lateral; Life; Link; Maps; Modeling; Molecular; Molecular Biology; Molecular Profiling; Mus; Neuroendocrinology; Neuropeptides; Neurosecretory Systems; North America; Parenting behavior; Partner in relationship; Pathway interactions; Peptide Sequence Determination; Pericentric Inversion; Phenotype; Physiological; Play; Population; Process; Proteins; RNA Splicing; Regulation; Relative (related person); Reproduction; Reproductive Behavior; Research Personnel; Risk-Taking; Role; Sequence Analysis; Sex Chromosomes; Sex Differentiation; Social Behavior; Songbirds; Sparrows; Staging; Steroid Receptors; Structure; Structure of terminal stria nuclei of preoptic region; Study models; System; Time; Transcript; Vertebrates; Work; autosome; base; gene function; improved; interdisciplinary collaboration; interest; male; nuclear receptor coactivator 1; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; serotonin 5 receptor; serotonin receptor; sex; tool

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Social behaviors that impact human health, including risk-taking, aggression, and parental care, have a neuroendocrine basis that is both biologically based and well conserved across vertebrates. Animal models, particularly those in which definitive neuroendocrine and genetic links to social behavior have been described, are therefore valuable systems in which to study the hormones and genes that influence human social behavior. Ideally, such models would be easily studied in their natural habitats, reasonably similar to humans in their social behavior, genetically tractable, and inexpensive to work with. We have been studying the neuroendocrine and genetic bases of social behavior in an exceptionally promising model, the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). This songbird, which is native to North America, has generated a great deal of interest among behavioral biologists because of a plumage polymorphism that predicts many aspects of an individual's social behavior. Dozens of behavioral studies conducted in the animals' natural habitat have established that individuals with a white-stripe (WS) on the crown are more competitive and aggressive, and birds with a tan stripe (TS) engage in more parental care. The color polymorphism is associated with a structural rearrangement on chromosome 2; all of the WS individuals have a copy of the rearranged chromosome (2m), whereas those of the TS morph are homozygous for the wild-type chromosome. We are currently mapping the 2m chromosome and have identified a set of promising neuroendocrine genes that are located within the rearrangement and may therefore contribute toward the behavioral phenotype and thus to risk-taking, aggression, and parenting. These genes, which include a gonadal steroid receptor, a steroidogenic enzyme, and a serotonin receptor subtype, are already suspected to play a role in social behavior in vertebrates, including humans. Here, we propose to evaluate these genes by identifying those (1) whose expression mirrors the behavioral polymorphism; (2) that may have organizational effects on the development of polymorphic behavior; and (3) that have been directly altered by the chromosomal arrangement in ways that may alter gene expression or function. Overall, the white-throated sparrow represents a unique and valuable opportunity for studies of the biological bases of social behavior because the behavioral differences between the morphs are already well-documented in free-living and laboratory populations, and the chromosomal inversion has been definitively linked to the behavioral polymorphism. Because the genes and pathways that regulate social behavior are conserved across species, the results of these studies will be applicable to understanding the mechanisms underlying aggressive and parental behavior in humans. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Social behaviors that impact human health, including competitive aggression and parental care, are in part influenced by hormones and gene expression. Here, we will study these influences in an animal model with a natural polymorphism that provides a unique opportunity to characterize the processes underlying aggression and parenting.

描述（由申请人提供）：影响人类健康的社会行为，包括冒险、攻击和父母照顾，具有神经内分泌基础，该基础既有生物学基础，又在脊椎动物中得到很好的保护。因此，动物模型，特别是那些已经描述了明确的神经内分泌和遗传与社会行为的联系的动物模型，是研究影响人类社会行为的激素和基因的有价值的系统。理想情况下，这些模型应该很容易在它们的自然栖息地进行研究，在社会行为上与人类相当相似，遗传上易于处理，并且工作成本低廉。我们一直在研究一个非常有前途的模型，白喉麻雀（Zonotrichia albicollis）的社会行为的神经内分泌和遗传基础。这种原产于北美的鸣禽引起了行为生物学家的极大兴趣，因为羽毛的多态性可以预测个体社会行为的许多方面。在动物的自然栖息地进行的数十项行为研究已经确定，冠上有白色条纹（WS）的个体更具竞争力和侵略性，而棕色条纹（TS）的鸟类则更多地参与父母的照顾。颜色多态性与2号染色体上的结构重排有关;所有WS个体都有一个重排染色体（2 m）的拷贝，而TS变体的那些是野生型染色体的纯合。我们目前正在绘制2 m染色体，并确定了一组有前途的神经内分泌基因，位于重排，因此可能有助于行为表型，从而冒险，侵略和养育。这些基因包括性腺类固醇受体、类固醇生成酶和5-羟色胺受体亚型，已经被怀疑在脊椎动物（包括人类）的社会行为中发挥作用。在这里，我们建议通过鉴定那些（1）其表达反映了行为多态性的基因来评估这些基因;（2）可能对多态性行为的发展具有组织影响;（3）已经通过染色体排列以可能改变基因表达或功能的方式直接改变的基因。总的来说，白喉麻雀代表了一个独特的和宝贵的机会，研究社会行为的生物学基础，因为变体之间的行为差异已经在自由生活和实验室种群中得到了很好的记录，染色体倒位已经明确地与行为多态性有关。由于调节社会行为的基因和途径在物种间是保守的，这些研究的结果将适用于理解人类攻击性和父母行为的机制。 公共卫生相关性：影响人类健康的社会行为，包括竞争性攻击和父母照顾，部分受到激素和基因表达的影响。在这里，我们将研究这些影响的动物模型与自然的多态性，提供了一个独特的机会，以表征潜在的侵略和养育的过程。