CARDIOLIPIN METABOLISM IN MICE BRAIN DURING EARLY DEVELOPMENT: SEXUAL DIFFERENCES

ACAZ-FONSECA, ESTEFANIA; LOPEZ-RODRIGUEZ, ANA BELEN; ARNAL, NATHALIE; GARCIA-SEGURA, LM; ASTIZ MARIANA

Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Congreso; LI Reunión anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

During perinatal period, testosterone (Te) release in males play a role in sexual dimorphic brain development. Mitochondrial metabolism is highly active during this period, thus we aimed to study cardiolipin (CL) Metabolism and the relationship with Te. C57BL/6 offspring were separated by sex at different postnatal days (PND 0-10) to obtain plasma and cerebral cortex. Te levels in plasma, the expression of enzymes involved in CL metabolic pathway and CL content and composition were assessed. We found sex-independent variation in CL content coincident with the expression of the CL de novo synthetic enzymes. CL unsaturation index (UI) was higher in males (PND 0-2) due to the high content of 20:4 and 22:6, correlated with Te levels. This could be explained by a differential expression of enzymes involved in both CL recycling pathways. To assess if this was due to Te levels, females were androgenized with a single injection of Te propionate at PND 0. We found that the sexual differences in UI and recycling enzymes were dependent on the perinatal hormonal levels. Despite that ∆5 and ∆6 desaturases were also differentially expressed, only ∆6 desaturase depends on Te levels. The sexual dimorphism found here would be relevant forunderstanding the roles of lipids in sexual dimorphic brain development, and possible long-lasting consequences of an early exposure to endocrine disruptors.