This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Video All Versions of this Article: 20/1/219    most recent Author Manuscript (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Shimshek, D. R. Articles by Seeburg, P. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Shimshek, D. R. Articles by Seeburg, P. H.

Impaired Reproductive Behavior by Lack of GluR-B Containing AMPA Receptors But Not of NMDA Receptors in Hypothalamic and Septal Neurons

Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Daniel J. Spergel, Section of Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC 5053, Chicago, Illinois 60637-1470. E-mail: dspergel{at}peds.bsd.uchicago.edu.

The roles of ionotropic glutamate receptors in mammalian reproduction are unknown. We therefore generated mice lacking a major subtype of (S)--amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors or all N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in GnRH neurons and other mainly limbic system neurons, primarily in hypothalamic and septal areas. Male mice without NMDA receptors in these neurons were not impaired in breeding and exhibited similar GnRH secretion as control littermates. However, male mice lacking GluR-B containing AMPA receptors in these neurons were poor breeders and severely impaired in reproductive behaviors such as aggression and mounting. Testis and sperm morphology, testis weight, and serum testosterone levels, as well as GnRH secretion, were unchanged. Contact with female cage bedding failed to elicit male sexual behavior in these mice, unlike in control male littermates. Their female counterparts had unchanged ovarian morphology, had bred successfully, and had normal litter sizes but exhibited pronounced impairments in maternal behaviors such as pup retrieval and maternal aggression. Our results suggest that NMDA receptors and GluR-B containing AMPA receptors are not essential for fertility, but that GluR-B containing AMPA receptors are essential for male and female reproduction-related behaviors, perhaps by mediating responses to pheromones or odorants.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. R. Shimshek, V. Jensen, T. Celikel, Y. Geng, B. Schupp, T. Bus, V. Mack, V. Marx, O. Hvalby, P. H. Seeburg, et al. Forebrain-Specific Glutamate Receptor B Deletion Impairs Spatial Memory But Not Hippocampal Field Long-Term Potentiation. J. Neurosci., August 15, 2006; 26(33): 8428 - 8440. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]