Calcitonin receptor signaling in the medial preoptic area enables risk-taking maternal care

Abstract

Highlights d Calcitonin receptor and its ligand amylin are expressed in the medial preoptic area d Calcitonin receptor + neurons are essential for maternal and alloparental care d Both calcitonin receptor and amylin are upregulated in postpartum mother mice d Calcitonin receptor upregulation takes part in risk-taking

A calcitonin receptor-expressing subregion of the medial preoptic area is involved in alloparental tolerance in common marmosets

“…As we have recently identified Calcr-expressing neurons in the cMPOA as the most significantly activated and indispensable for parental and alloparental care in mice 13 , 23 , 24 , we sought the marmoset counterpart area of the mouse cMPOA. First, in the whole marmoset MPOA, Calcr immunoreactivity and c-Fos mRNA (as a readout of transcriptional activation of neurons) were separately visualized in serial sections of older siblings that experienced infant care for 25 min (Fig.…”

“…We took this approach because utilizing the parents for invasive experiments would have inevitably destroyed the whole family and was therefore avoided. Moreover, the accumulating rodent evidence strongly suggests a common neural basis for maternal, paternal, and allomaternal care that includes the cMPOA 5 , 13 , 23 , 24 , 56 (but in ref. 57 ).…”

“…MPOA neurons expressing estrogen receptor α or galanin mediate mainly pup retrieval and pup grooming, respectively [17][18][19][20][21] . To further specify the essential neurons for pup retrieval anatomically and molecularly, we have narrowed down the essential regions for infant care by mothers, fathers, and alloparents (collectively called caregivers hereafter) in laboratory mice to the central part of the posterior MPOA (cMPOA, overlaps with the posterolateral subdivision of the medial preoptic nucleus 22 ) 13,23 , and then screened the candidate molecular markers and identified the calcitonin receptor (Calcr) in laboratory mice 24 . We have reported that Calcr not only serves as a marker for neurons critical for parental care in the cMPOA, but also functions molecularly to heighten maternal motivation in postpartum females.…”

The role of ciliopathy-associated type 3 adenylyl cyclase in infanticidal behavior in virgin adult male mice

“…The infanticidal behavior of adult male mice is evoked by the combined effects of hormones, neuropeptides, and neurobiological regulation. It has been revealed that hormonal changes, including testosterone, are linked to the transition from infanticidal to paternal behavior in virgin males ( Fukui et al., 2022 ; Martinez et al., 2015 ; Romero-Morales et al., 2021 ; Stagkourakis et al., 2020 ; Yoshihara et al., 2021 ). However, our previous data showed that the serum testosterone level is not abnormal in AC3 −/− mice ( Wang et al., 2006 ).…”

Cre Recombinase Driver Mice Reveal Lineage-Dependent and -Independent Expression of Brs3 in the Mouse Brain

“…In contrast, Brs3 neurons in the preoptic area (POA) of the hypothalamus and dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) regulate body temperature, energy expenditure, heart rate, and blood pressure, but not appetite ( Piñol et al, 2018 , 2021 ). POA Brs3 neurons have also been implicated in parental behaviors ( Moffitt et al, 2018 ; Yoshihara et al, 2021 ).…”