This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.Voles provide an excellent animal model for investigating the molecular, cellular and neural mechanisms underlying affiliative behavior and social attachment. Variation in vasopressin V1a receptor (V1aR) expression in the brain is associated with variation in social behaviors in voles. During the past year we have focused on understanding the molecular basis for the species differences in V1aR expression. We are in the process of making 3 lines of transgenic mice in which we have replaced the mouse V1aR gene with that of the prairie vole. Each of the three lines differs only in the structure of the microsatellite. Embryonic stem cells have been transformed and are now being injected into blastocyst. We have also performed a comparative study of the V1aR promoter and microsatellite polymorphisms in great apes and several monkey species. A manuscript based on this data is underway. We have also developed an siRNA viral vector which effectively silences V1aR expression in the prairie vole brain.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 912 publications
