Microglia phagocytosis mediates the volume and function of the rat sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area

Significance Establishing the origins of brain sex differences is an essential goal for understanding phenotypic variance in behavior. The sexually dimorphic nucleus (SDN) is the oldest known and most robust anatomical sex difference in the mammalian brain. Its origins have long been assumed to be due to differential cell autonomous apoptosis, and the larger SDN correlated with preference for females as sexual partners, but these premises have been unproven. Data generated in rats establish that the mechanism establishing a sex difference in SDN neuron number involves an essential role for microglia as ultimate purveyors of cell death which may begin with the neurons. This early process, not the ultimate size of the SDN, is an arbiter of sexual partner preference in adulthood.

• Publication year

  2023

• Venue

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

• Publication date

  2023-02-27

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1073/pnas.2212646120PMID 36848562PMCID 10013839
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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