Xu JH, Xue HL, Wang Z, Fan C, Wu M, Xu LX. Estrogen receptor 2 mediates intraspecific aggressive behaviors of the female
Cricetulus barabensis in the estrous cycle.
J Integr Neurosci 2021;
20:77-85. [PMID:
33834693 DOI:
10.31083/j.jin.2021.01.302]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The social behavior mechanisms have not been thoroughly reported in the solitary female striped dwarf hamster (Cricetulus barabensis). In this study, the handling bag test and neutral arena measurements were used to detect the changes of aggression in the face of rivals of different genders of wild striped dwarf hamsters. We found that female hamsters had the highest aggressive performance in proestrus, followed by estrus, and the lowest in metestrus and the dioestrus, and the increased aggression during the proestrus or estrus period was low-intensity aggression such as intimidation, shock, boxing and counterattack, or even ritualized non-harmful behaviors to drive away opponents. When confronted with male individuals, aggression in females decreased significantly during estrus. The concentration of plasma estradiol was the highest in estrus and the lowest in metestrus and dioestrus. In contrast, estrogen receptor 2 relative expression in the hypothalamus is the lowest in proestrus and highest in metestrus and dioestrus. Besides, both estradiol levels in plasma and estrogen receptor 2 mRNA in the hypothalamus were associated with aggression. These results will broaden our understanding of the molecular mechanism of how breeding phenotype is an essential driver in changing the social behavior of female Cricetulus barabensis.
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