Dataset Information

Brain Distribution and Sexually Dimorphic Expression of Amylin in Different Reproductive Stages of the Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) Suggest Roles of the Neuropeptide in Song Learning and Social Behaviour.

ABSTRACT: The expression of the recently identified neuropeptide, amylin, is restricted in rodents to the postpartum preoptic area and may play a role in the control of parental behaviours and food intake. These processes are substantially different between bird and rodent parents as birds do not lactate but often show biparental care of the offspring. To establish the presence and role of amylin in the bird brain, in the present study, we investigated the distribution of amylin in brains of adult male and female zebra finches in three different reproductive stages (i.e. paired without young, incubating eggs or provisioning nestlings) and in unpaired control birds living in same sex flocks. Amylin mRNA was identified in the hypothalamus of zebra finch by RT-PCR, which was also used to produce probes for in situ hybridisation. Subsequently, in situ hybridisation histochemistry was performed in brain sections, and the labelling signal was quantified and compared between the groups. Amylin showed a much wider brain distribution than that of rodents. A strong and, in some regions, sexually dimorphic label was found in the striatum and several brain regions of the social behavioural network in both males and females. Many regions responsible for the learning of birdsong also contained amylin-positive neurons, and some regions showed sex differences reflecting the fact that vocalisation is sexually dimorphic in the zebra finch: only males sing. Area X (Ar.X), a striatal song centre present only in males, was labelled in paired but not unpaired male. Ar.X, another song centre, the lateral part of the magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (lMAN) also contained amylin and had higher amylin label in paired, as opposed to unpaired birds. The wider distribution of amylin in birds as compared to rodents suggests a more general role of amylin in social or other behaviours in avian species than in mammals. Alternatively, parental care in birds may be a more complex behavioural trait involving a wider set of brain regions. The sex differences in song centres, and the changes with reproductive status suggest a participation of amylin in social behaviours and related changes in the singing of males.

SUBMITTER: Zachar G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6971405 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Brain Distribution and Sexually Dimorphic Expression of Amylin in Different Reproductive Stages of the Zebra Finch (<i>Taeniopygia guttata</i>) Suggest Roles of the Neuropeptide in Song Learning and Social Behaviour.

Zachar Gergely G Montagnese Catherine C Fazekas Emese A EA Kemecsei Róbert G RG Papp Szilvia M SM Dóra Fanni F Renner Éva É Csillag András A Pogány Ákos Á Dobolyi Arpád A

Frontiers in neuroscience 20200113

The expression of the recently identified neuropeptide, amylin, is restricted in rodents to the postpartum preoptic area and may play a role in the control of parental behaviours and food intake. These processes are substantially different between bird and rodent parents as birds do not lactate but often show biparental care of the offspring. To establish the presence and role of amylin in the bird brain, in the present study, we investigated the distribution of amylin in brains of adult male an ...[more]

PMID: 32009882

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The proteins of avian eggshell organic matrices are thought to control the mineralization of the eggshell in the shell gland (uterus). Proteomic analysis of such matrices identified many candidates for such a role. However, all matrices analyzed to date come from species of one avian family, the Phasianidae. To analyze the conservation of such proteins throughout the entire class Aves and to possibly identify a common protein toolkit enabling eggshell mineralization, it is important to analyze eggshell matrices from other avian families. Because mass spectrometry-based in-depth proteomic analysis still depends on sequence databases as comprehensive and accurate as possible, the obvious choice for a first such comparative study was the eggshell matrix of zebra finch, the genome sequence of which is the only songbird genome published to date. RESULTS:The zebra finch eggshell matrix comprised 475 accepted protein identifications. Most of these proteins (84 %) were previously identified in species of the Phasianidae family (chicken, turkey, quail). This also included most of the so-called eggshell-specific proteins, the ovocleidins and ovocalyxins. Ovocleidin-116 was the second most abundant protein in the zebra finch eggshell matrix. Major proteins also included ovocalyxin-32 and -36. The sequence of ovocleidin-17 was not contained in the sequence database, but a presumptive homolog was tentatively identified by N-terminal sequence analysis of a prominent 17 kDa band. The major proteins also included three proteins similar to ovalbumin, the most abundant of which was identified as ovalbumin with the aid of two characteristic phosphorylation sites. Several other proteins identified in Phasianidae eggshell matrices were not identified. When the zebra finch sequence database contained a sequence similar to a missing phasianid protein it may be assumed that the protein is missing from the matrix. This applied to ovocalyxin-21/gastrokine-1, a major protein of the chicken eggshell matrix, to EDIL3 and to lactadherin. In other cases failure to identify a particular protein may be due to the absence of this protein from the sequence database, highlighting the importance of better, more comprehensive sequence databases. CONCLUSIONS:The results indicate that ovocleidin-116, ovocleidin-17, ovocalyxin-36 and ovocalyxin-32 may be universal avian eggshell-mineralizing proteins. All the more important it is to elucidate the role of these proteins at the molecular level. This cannot be achieved by proteomic studies but will need application of other methods, such as atomic force microscopy or gene knockouts. However, it will also be important to analyze more eggshell matrices of different avian families to unequivocally identify other mineralization toolkit proteins apart from ovocleidins and ovocalyxins. Progress in this respect will depend critically on the availability of more, and more comprehensive, sequence databases. The development of faster and cheaper nucleotide sequencing methods has considerably accelerated genome and transcriptome sequencing, but this seems to concur with frequent publication of incomplete and fragmented sequence databases.

Project description:Avian animals are visually inclined, which has caused them to attract increasing attention for visual neurophysiology or electrophysiology studies, including the study of the visual evoked potential (VEP). VEP has developed into an investigative tool for understanding the physiology and the pathology of the visual pathway. Chemical restraint is a common method to minimize motion artifacts in animals when acquiring VEP data, but little is known about its influence on the signal in an avian animal. In addition, it is difficult to make comparisons between conscious state data when the animals are ultimately under anesthesia. Therefore, finding drugs and developing protocols that have an acceptable effect is valuable. We compared the local field potentials of physically and chemically restrained zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), a small avian species, to simulate a relatively challenging recording condition. Finches were sedated with midazolam-butorphanol, and anesthesia was maintained by isoflurane. Electrodes were implanted into the left nucleus rotundus, which is a visual nucleus in birds. The VEPs of the control group (N = 3) were recorded after they fully recovered and were restrained by towels. The other birds (N = 3) were recorded under anesthesia. The results show that without the visual stimuli, anesthesia generally suppressed the overall power of field potentials. However, by focusing on the spectra during VEPs, visual stimuli still triggered significant VEPs in frequencies below 30.8 Hz, which were even stronger than towel-restrained birds. The drugs also prolonged the latency of the VEP, increased the duration of the VEP when compared to towel-restrained birds. As regard to towel-restrained zebra finches, the field potentials were less synchronized and may need data preprocessing to have clear VEPs. In conclusion, the current study presents evidence of basic VEP for zebra finch under midazolam-butorphanol-isoflurane anesthesia with a protocol that is a safe and feasible anesthetic combination for chemical restraint, which is particularly useful for small animals when obtaining evoked potentials.

Dataset Information

Brain Distribution and Sexually Dimorphic Expression of Amylin in Different Reproductive Stages of the Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) Suggest Roles of the Neuropeptide in Song Learning and Social Behaviour.

Publications

Brain Distribution and Sexually Dimorphic Expression of Amylin in Different Reproductive Stages of the Zebra Finch (<i>Taeniopygia guttata</i>) Suggest Roles of the Neuropeptide in Song Learning and Social Behaviour.

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