Endocrine Disruption of the Social Brain

National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences

Investigators

Abstract

Goal 1 is being completed using a combination of prairie vole tissues collected and sectioned at NC State prior to the team’s arrival at NIEHS, and newly acquired tissues. The colony is housed at NC State University, hence all animal care and husbandry as well as all dosing occurred there with the remaining work done at NIEHS. One primary accomplishment is completion of tissue collection from the remaining animals. Additionally, using previously collected and sectioned tissues, and a combination of in-house confocal imaging tools and quantification methods, we assessed the density of ERα across multiple social brain nuclei. A subset of perfused brain tissues of interest were identified and immunolabeled for estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). Similarly, frozen tissues from sibling animals were labeled for ESR1 using RNAScope technology. A subset of frozen tissues is currently being prepared to assess the density of other, related, receptors including oxytocin and vasopressin receptors. Full results and publication of the ER work is expected in 2026. Goal 2 has just been started and is being conducted in collaboration with the NIEHS neurobehavioral core. A pilot project is underway using a small set of mice to ensure that the experimental design is feasible and the animals can reliably be run through the behavioral testing equipment. The full-scale project is slated to begin in FY 2026.