The role of the androgen receptor in behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：大脑中的激素受体，特别是雌激素受体，已被证明在行为性别差异的发展和维持中起着重要作用。然而，雄激素受体在这一过程中的作用尚不清楚。因此，我建议研究雄激素受体在两种类型的行为，感觉运动门控和焦虑中的作用，使用睾丸雌性化突变（TFM）的雄性小鼠和大鼠，雄激素受体基因突变使蛋白质失去功能。实验1将通过比较TFM雄性、野生型雄性和野生型雌性的行为，验证雄激素受体参与调节成年期感觉运动门控和焦虑相关行为的假设。由于TFM雄性小鼠和大鼠的循环睾酮(T)水平与其野生型兄弟姐妹不同，在实验2中，所有动物都将被阉割性腺，给予T治疗，并测试相同的行为，以揭示循环T是否在成年期作用于AR影响行为。实验3将检验成年期感觉运动门控和焦虑的差异是否是发育过程中雄激素诱导组织的结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Hormone receptors in the brain, particularly the estrogen receptor, have been shown to play a major role in the development and maintenance of sex differences in behavior. However, the role of the androgen receptor in this process is less understood. Therefore I propose to investigate the role of the androgen receptor in two types of behavior, sensorimotor gating and anxiety, using male mice and rats with the testicular feminization mutation (TFM), a mutation in the androgen receptor gene that renders the protein nonfunctional. Experiment 1 will test the hypothesis that the androgen receptor is involved in the regulation of sensorimotor gating and anxiety-related behaviors in adulthood by comparing behavior between TFM males, wild type males and wild type females. Since TFM male mice and rats have different circulating testosterone (T) levels than their wild type siblings, in Experiment 2 all animals will be gonadectomized, administered T, and tested for the same behaviors to reveal whether circulating T is acting on AR in adulthood to affect behavior. Experiment 3 will test whether differences in sensorimotor gating and anxiety in adulthood are the result of androgen induced organization during development.