Neuronal Sex Differences: Development of an interdisciplinary proteomics-based approach

The membrane is a very important to cells – it protects the cell from the external environment and it allows substances to enter to leave.  Proteins are chemicals that provide for structure and function of cells and many proteins are found in cell membranes.  In neurons membrane proteins are particularly important as they play crucial roles in the ability of neurons to receive and deliver information and change their structure and function during development or in response to environmental changes, learning and memory. Identification of membrane proteins may lead to the development of new drugs that can help war off or cure disease.  

 

This project will identify those membrane proteins that play a role in the sexual differentiation.  Proteins will be extracted from the preoptic area and compared to identify differences in structure and amount between male and female rodents.  The preoptic area is a region in the brain that is critical for the normal expression of male sexual behavior but plays little role in the expression of female behavior.  Therefore, identifying differences in the protein make up of this region should lead to better understanding of how membrane proteins contribute to the expression of sex specific behaviors.