Original scientific article describes results about female sex behavior and hypothalamic expression of progesterone receptor in SF-1 knockout mice. It was established that sex differences in both, expression of female sex behavior and immunoexpression of progesterone receptor in the hypothalamus must be partially dependent on genes from sex chromosomes as sex specific differences were found also between male and female SF-1 KO mice that are never exposed to sex steroid hormones.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3520890
Original scientific article about effect of social isolation on social behavior in laboratory mice. The article is especially important from two perspectives. Firstly, it shows that breeding conditions have profound effects on behavior in laboratory mice and must therefore be taken into account when performing behavioral analyzes. Secondly, it shows that even transient social isolation has long lasting effects on mouse behavior, most likely achieved through epigenetic mechanisms, and this could have improtant implications also for human mental health.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3261050
An invited review article in a journal with high impact factor (IF = 12.75) describes brain sexual differentiation from hormonal and sex chromosome perspective and discusses the influence of such differences on animal and human behavior. There have been occasional lively debates about the actual number of sexes that can be defined. However, there is little debate that mammalian sexual differentiation starts from the perspective of two primary sexes that correspond to differential sex chromosomes (X versus Y) that lead to individuals with sex typical characteristics, ranging from breast development and function, facial hair, different reproductive organs in humans, to larger body sizes in many mammals, presence or absence of antlers in ungulates, and differential plumage in birds. Beside obvious external differences, sex differences exist in many other organs or organ systems such as liver, immune system and brain. While sex chromosomes are usually credited as the key trigger for generating sex differences, most sex differences (at least in mammals) are thought to arise due to differential exposure to sex steroid hormones secreted by the gonads during development. In male mammals, the formation of the testis is triggered by the expression of the Sry gene on the Y chromosome. Sry induces a genetic cascade that leads gonadal primordia to develop into testes. Subsequently, testes secrete different hormones, key among them being the steroid hormone testosterone and the peptide anti-mullerian hormone, which are responsible for development of the male phenotype. While dogma states that ovaries develop in the absence of Sry, newer data indicate a critical genetic cascade for ovarian development. Although sex steroid hormones account for most aspects of brain sexual differentiation, a growing literature has raised important questions about the direct role of genes on sex chromosomes separate from sex steroid actions. Sex chromosomes obviously differ by sex, but it has been controversial as to what extent the genes on these chromosomes might affect brain development directly and differentially to cause differences in the brain between males and females.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3318906
Original scientific article describes altered position of different cells in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus in SF-1 KO mice. Using immunocytochemistry, golgi staining and neuronal tracing methods we have described altered position of cells, involved in body weight regulation. Results of this study provide an insight into the possible causes for late onset obesity in SF-1 KO mice.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3397242
In the monography chapter, the PI has described the mechanisms of brain sexual differentiation with particualr emphasis on hormone independent processes that contribute to the development of sex differences in the brain.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3315834