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The Journal of Neuroscience, December 31, 2008, 28(53):14492-14499; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3589-08.2008

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Development/Plasticity/Repair
Neurogenic and Neuroendocrine Effects of Goldfish Pheromones

Yu-Wen Chung-Davidson, Christopher Benjamin Rees, Mara Beth Bryan, and Weiming Li

Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Weiming Li, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 100 Giltner Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824. Email: liweim{at}msu.edu

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) use reproductive hormones as endocrine signals to synchronize sexual behavior with gamete maturation and as exogenous signals (pheromones) to mediate spawning interactions between conspecifics. We examined the differential effects of two hormonal pheromones, prostaglandin F2{alpha} (PGF2{alpha}) and 17{alpha},20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20β-P) on neurogenesis, neurotransmission, and neuronal activities, and on plasma androstenedione (AD) levels. Exposure to waterborne PGF2{alpha} induced a multitude of changes in male goldfish brain. Histological examination indicated an increase in the number of dividing cells in male diencephalon (p < 0.05, Kruskal–Wallis test). Real-time quantitative PCR tests showed elevated levels of transcripts for the salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in the male telencephalon and cerebellum (p < 0.005, one-way ANOVA) and for ChAT (choline acetyltransferase) in the male vagal lobe and the brainstem underneath the vagal lobe (p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA). Therefore, PGF2{alpha} seemed to modulate male brain plasticity that coincided with behavioral changes during spawning season. Exposure to waterborne 17,20β-P, however, increased circulatory levels of immunoreactive AD in males and the transcripts of androgen receptor and cGnRH-II (chicken-II GnRH) in the female cerebellum (p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA). PGF2{alpha} and 17,20β-P thereby seemed to act through distinct pathways to elicit different responses in the neuroendocrine system. This is the first finding that links a specific pheromone molecule (PGF2{alpha}) to neurogenesis in a vertebrate animal.

Key words: Carassius auratus; 17{alpha},20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one; prostaglandin F2{alpha}; androstenedione; neurogenesis; GnRH

Received July 30, 2008; revised Oct. 30, 2008; accepted Nov. 28, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Weiming Li, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 100 Giltner Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824. Email: liweim{at}msu.edu






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