Sex-Related Differences In PACAP Expression In The PVT Of Rats
Nawal Syed, Breanne E. Pirino, Genevieve R. Curtis, Andrew T. Gargiulo, Brody A. Carpenter, Anuranita Gupta & Jessica R. Barson
Drexel University College of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
Both the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) and the neuropeptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), are associated with motivated and affective behaviors and sex-related differences in neuronal activity have been identified in the PVT. While PACAP is densely expressed in the PVT of male rodents, with the isoform PACAP-27 more prevalent than PACAP-38, this remains to be characterized in females. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine PACAP expression in the PVT of rats and determine sex-related differences in its expression. We performed fluorescent immunohistochemistry for PACAP-27 and PACAP-38 on tissue containing the PVT from adult, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 5/sex). Using confocal microscopy and ImageJ, we determined that the percentage of DAPI cells co-labeling with PACAP-27 was greater in females than males (52% vs. 44%) and increased from anterior to posterior PVT, displaying a significant main effect of sex [F(1, 8) = 13.867, p = 0.006] and subregion [F(1.23, 9.84) = 7.758, p = 0.016]. The percentage of DAPI cells co-labeling with PACAP-38 was also greater in females than males (17% vs. 11%), displaying a significant main effect of sex [F(1, 8) = 19.866, p= 0.002], but not subregion [F(2, 16) = 2.465, ns]. These results indicate that both PACAP isoforms are more highly expressed in female rat PVT and show similar distributions across the PVT in both sexes. These findings suggest that PACAP may underlie some established sex-related differences in motivated and affective behavior.
Nawal Syed, Breanne E. Pirino, Genevieve R. Curtis, Andrew T. Gargiulo, Brody A. Carpenter, Anuranita Gupta & Jessica R. Barson
Drexel University College of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
Both the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) and the neuropeptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), are associated with motivated and affective behaviors and sex-related differences in neuronal activity have been identified in the PVT. While PACAP is densely expressed in the PVT of male rodents, with the isoform PACAP-27 more prevalent than PACAP-38, this remains to be characterized in females. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine PACAP expression in the PVT of rats and determine sex-related differences in its expression. We performed fluorescent immunohistochemistry for PACAP-27 and PACAP-38 on tissue containing the PVT from adult, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 5/sex). Using confocal microscopy and ImageJ, we determined that the percentage of DAPI cells co-labeling with PACAP-27 was greater in females than males (52% vs. 44%) and increased from anterior to posterior PVT, displaying a significant main effect of sex [F(1, 8) = 13.867, p = 0.006] and subregion [F(1.23, 9.84) = 7.758, p = 0.016]. The percentage of DAPI cells co-labeling with PACAP-38 was also greater in females than males (17% vs. 11%), displaying a significant main effect of sex [F(1, 8) = 19.866, p= 0.002], but not subregion [F(2, 16) = 2.465, ns]. These results indicate that both PACAP isoforms are more highly expressed in female rat PVT and show similar distributions across the PVT in both sexes. These findings suggest that PACAP may underlie some established sex-related differences in motivated and affective behavior.