Journal
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 221-233Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1534/g3.115.020982/-/DC1
Keywords
pregnancy; parturition; postpartum; RNA-seq; mouse; gene expression; Genetics of Sex
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Funding
- Florida State University College of Medicine
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The developmental transition to motherhood requires gene expression changes that alter the brain to drive the female to perform maternal behaviors. We broadly examined the global transcriptional response in the mouse maternal brain, by examining four brain regions: hypothalamus, hippocampus, neocortex, and cerebellum, in virgin females, two pregnancy time points, and three postpartum time points. We find that overall there are hundreds of differentially expressed genes, but each brain region and time point shows a unique molecular signature, with only 49 genes differentially expressed in all four regions. Interestingly, a set of early-response genes is repressed in all brain regions during pregnancy and postpartum stages. Several genes previously implicated in underlying postpartum depression change expression. This study serves as an atlas of gene expression changes in the maternal brain, with the results demonstrating that pregnancy, parturition, and postpartum maternal experience substantially impact diverse brain regions.
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