RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Regulation of neural gene expression by estrogen receptor alpha
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.10.21.349290
DO 10.1101/2020.10.21.349290
A1 Bruno Gegenhuber
A1 Melody V. Wu
A1 Robert Bronstein
A1 Jessica Tollkuhn
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/10/21/2020.10.21.349290.abstract
AB The transcription factor estrogen receptor α (ERα) is a principal regulator of sex differences in the vertebrate brain and can modulate mood, behavior, and energy balance in females and males. However, the genes regulated by ERα in the brain remain largely unknown. Here we reveal the genomic binding of ERα within a sexually dimorphic neural circuit that regulates social behaviors. We profiled gene expression and chromatin accessibility and show ERα induces a neurodevelopmental gene program in adulthood. We further demonstrate that ERα binds with Nuclear factor I X-type (Nfix) to regulate a male-biased gene expression program that initiates in early life. Our results reveal a neural strategy for ERα-mediated gene regulation and provide molecular targets that underlie estrogen’s effects on brain development, behavior, and disease.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.