ENVIRONMENT, BEHAVIOR, AND REPRODUCTION

描述(由申请人提供)：几个环境因素，包括 食物的可获得性和环境温度会影响生殖反应 白天的长度。以前的工作表明，在整个人口范围内， 个体表现出季节性的生殖适应。的总目标是 目前的建议是继续发现生理学的 外源基因引起生殖反应差异的机制 成年鹿小鼠大脑和睾丸中的因子(Permycus (木耳)。拟议的研究将确定性腺退化是否会在 对短日数或食物摄入量限制的反应是由于监管下调造成的 导致细胞程序性死亡(细胞凋亡)的血管生成因子。 实验还将确定松果体褪黑素在中介中的作用 性腺退行性变过程中血管生成的变化。在“自发”性腺过程中 复发，我们假设血管重建率增加 和细胞生长，减少细胞程序性死亡的速度将是 在睾丸和调节下丘脑的区域都可以观察到 性腺功能。其他实验将确定基因表达的变化 利用cDNA研究性腺退化和再发育过程中的睾丸基因 微阵列，然后对假定的监管产品进行西方分析 基因。还将进行微阵列分析，以描述 光周期诱导生殖退化过程中脑基因的表达 以及光折射诱导性腺发育。蛋白质印迹分析将 然后评估大脑中蛋白质在上调和下调调控后的变化 在季节循环的关键点上的候选“光周期基因”。已被占用 总之，这些研究将应用分子方法来研究 生殖功能的生态相关特征。评选结果 拟议的研究应该为这种变异提供分子基础。 生殖反应，以及提供正式和机械的 关于生殖退化和复发的信息 季节性繁殖的啮齿动物。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):Several environmental factors including food availability and ambient temperature can affect reproductive response to day length. Previous work demonstrated population-wide variation in the extent that individuals display seasonal reproductive adaptations. The general goal of the current proposal is to continue the discovery of the physiological mechanisms that underlie variation in reproductive responses to extrinsic factors both in the brain and in the testes of adult deer mice (Peromycus maniculatus). The proposed studies will determine if gonadal regression in response to short days or restricted food intake results from down-regulation of angiogenic factors which led to programmed cell death (apoptosis). Experiments will also determine the role of pineal melatonin in the mediation of angiogenesis during gonadal regression. During "spontaneous" gonadal recrudescence, we hypothesize that increased rates of vasculature remodeling and cellular growth, and reduced rates of programmed cell death will be observed, both in the testes and in the hypothalamic regions that regulate gonadal function. Other experiments will determine changes in expression of testicular genes during gonadal regression and redevelopment using cDNA microarrays, followed by Western analyses for products of putative regulatory genes. Microarray analyses will also be conducted to describe changes in the expression of brain genes during photoperiod-induced reproductive regression and photorefractoriness-induced gonadal development. Western blot analysis will then assess protein changes in the brain subsequent to up- and down-regulation of candidate "photoperiodism genes" at key points in the seasonal cycle. Taken together, these studies will apply molecular approaches to study ecologically-relevant features of reproductive function. The results of the proposed studies should provide a molecular basis for the variation in reproductive responses, as well as provide both formal and mechanistic information about reproductive regression and recrudescence in seasonally-breeding rodents.