Assessment of Male Sexual Behavior in Mice

Park, Jin Ho

doi:10.1007/978-1-61779-313-4_22

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 85 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Hormonally-primed females were placed in the middle of aquaria with a stimulus male for 20 min (Park, 2011 ), or until the female received an ejaculation. The following behaviors were recorded: lordosis posture, total number and latency of attempted mounts, successful mounts, pelvic thrusts and intromissions, and the latency of ejaculation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social isolation during puberty affects female sexual behavior in mice

Kercmar

Tobet

Majdič

2014

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Exposure to stress during puberty can lead to long-term behavioral alterations in adult rodents coincident with sex steroid hormone-dependent brain remodeling and reorganization. Social isolation is a stress for social animals like mice, but little is known about the effects of such stress during adolescence on later reproductive behaviors. The present study examined sexual behavior of ovariectomized, estradiol and progesterone primed female mice that were individually housed from 25 days of age until testing at approximately 95 days, or individually housed from day 25 until day 60 (during puberty), followed by housing in social groups. Mice in these isolated groups were compared to females that were group housed throughout the experiment. Receptive sexual behaviors of females and behaviors of stimulus males were recorded. Females housed in social groups displayed greater levels of receptive behaviors in comparison to both socially isolated groups. Namely, social females had higher lordosis quotients (LQs) and more often displayed stronger lordosis postures in comparison to isolated females. No differences between female groups were observed in stimulus male sexual behavior suggesting that female “attractiveness” was not affected by their social isolation. Females housed in social groups had fewer cells containing immunoreactive estrogen receptor (ER) α in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) and in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) than both isolated groups. These results suggest that isolation during adolescence affects female sexual behavior and re-socialization for 1 month in adulthood is insufficient to rescue lordosis behavior from the effects of social isolation during the pubertal period.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social isolation during puberty affects female sexual behavior in mice

Kercmar

Tobet

Majdič

2014

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hormonally-primed females (EB implants & subcutaneous injection of P 4 to 8 hours prior to behavioral assessment) were placed in the middle of aquaria with stimulus males for 20 minutes (Park, 2011), or until the females received an ejaculation and the following behaviors were recorded: lordosis posture, total number and latency of attempted mounts, successful mounts, pelvic thrusts and intromissions, and the latency of ejaculation. Behaviors were recorded by 'stopwatch' software (Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Atlanta, GA) and were performed always by the same investigator (J.K.) who was blinded to the group assignment at the time of testing.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gonadectomy prior to puberty decreases normal parental behavior in adult mice

Kercmar

Snoj

Tobet

et al. 2014

Hormones and Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sex steroid hormones secreted by gonads influence development and expression of many behaviors including parental behaviors. The capacity to display many behaviors develops under the influence of sex steroid hormones; it begins with gonadal differentiation and lasts through puberty. The timing of gonadectomy may have important and long lasting effects on the organization and activation of neural circuits regulating the expression of different behaviors. The present study investigated the importance of exposure to endogenous gonadal steroid hormones during pubertal period/adolescence on parental behavior in adult mice. Male and female WT mice were gonadectomized either before puberty (25 days of age) or after puberty (60 days of age) and tested for parental behavior with and without estradiol benzoate (EB) replacement in adulthood. Additional groups of mice were gonadectomized at P25 and supplemented with estradiol (females) or testosterone (males) during puberty. Female mice gonadectomized after puberty or gonadectomized before puberty and supplemented with estradiol during puberty, displayed better pup directed parental behaviors in comparison to mice gonadectomized at 25 days of age regardless treatment with estradiol in adulthood. However, mice treated with EB in adulthood displayed better non-pup directed nest building behavior than when they were tested without EB treatment regardless of sex and time of gonadectomy. To examine whether the sensitivity to sex steroid hormones was altered due to differences in time without gonads prior to the testing, mice were also tested for female sex behavior and there were no differences between mice gonadectomized at P25 or P60, although this could not completely rule out the possibility that parental behavior is more sensitive to prolonged absence of steroid hormones than female sex behavior. These results suggest that the absence of gonads and thereby the absence of appropriate gonadal steroid hormones during puberty/adolescence may have a profound effect on pup directed parental behaviors in adult mice.

show abstract

“…Sexual behavior was conducted as in Park (2011) 18 and Juntti et al (2010) 7 . Briefly, male sexual behavior was assessed in a closed, rectangular plexiglass arena with a clear plexiglass bottom, below which an angled mirror was placed to allow for viewing of the mouse underside during the behavioral assay 18 . Both male and female mice were prepared for behavioral testing days in advance.…”

Section: Preparing For Behavioral Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we hypothesized that the Pea3 null male infertility is due to (1) severe erectile dysfunction and/or (2) the complete loss of ejaculatory function. To ascertain deficiencies in Pea3 null male-specific female-directed social behaviors, gross sexual behaviors, and erectile and ejaculatory functioning, we employed a sexual behavior arena 18 that allowed for direct observation of erectile function and monitored mouse behaviors using high speed and high resolution digital video recording, which was followed by a detailed post hoc analysis. Surprisingly, we found that loss of Pea3 leads to greatly diminished erectile functioning, with many mice displaying no visible erectile activity, and those that do only produce brief, rare, and poorly timed periods of penile tumescence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcription Factor Gene Pea3 Regulates Erectile Function in Mice

Weinrich

Tyagi

DiCasoli

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundMale mice with homozygous loss of function mutations of the ETS transcription factor gene Pea3 (Pea3 null) are infertile due to their inability to deposit semen plugs, however the specific deficits in male sexual behaviors that drive this phenotype are unknown.AimTo investigate the regulatory role of the Pea3 gene in organizing gross sexual behaviors and erectile functioning during active copulation.MethodsThe copulatory behavior of male mice (Pea3 null and control) with hormonally primed ovariectomized females was monitored via high-speed and high-resolution digital videography to assess for differences in female-directed social behaviors, gross sexual behaviors (mounting, thrusting), and erectile and ejaculatory function.OutcomesPea3 null male mice have dramatically reduced erectile function during sexual intercourse, however other aspects of male sexual behaviors are largely intact.ResultsPea3 null male mice exhibit greatly reduced erectile function, with 44% of males displaying no visible erections during mounting behaviors, and none achieving sustained erections. As such, Pea3 null males are incapable of intromission, and semen plug deposition, despite displaying largely normal female-directed social behaviors, mounting behaviors, and ejaculatory grasping behavior. Additionally, the coordination of the timing of thrusting trains is impaired in Pea3 null males.Clinical ImplicationsThe identification of the transcription factor Pea3 in regulating erectile function in mice may provide a useful target for understanding the genetics of male sexual dysfunction in human patients.Strengths and LimitationsHigh-speed and high-resolution videography allows for a detailed analysis of male sexual behaviors and erectile functioning in Pea3 null and control mice. How disruption of the Pea3 gene translates to erectile dysfunction is still unknown.ConclusionThe transcription factor gene Pea3 regulates the ability to achieve and maintain erections in male mice.

show abstract

Assessment of Male Sexual Behavior in Mice

Cited by 9 publications

References 85 publications

Social isolation during puberty affects female sexual behavior in mice

Social isolation during puberty affects female sexual behavior in mice

Gonadectomy prior to puberty decreases normal parental behavior in adult mice

Transcription Factor Gene Pea3 Regulates Erectile Function in Mice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About