Sexualdimorphism in the brain is very common in primate species. Those who have this kind of difference include human being, great apes, little apes and some old world monkey species. In these species, the brain capacity of male is bigger than female. So the reason of these difference is the genetic mechanism remainsunclear. It has learned that the laboratory in KunmingInstitute of Zoology firstly revealed the genetic control mechanisms of primatebrain dimorphism from gene level through the experimental investigation.

The laboratory analyzed the uppersequence of seven brain volume regulating genes. They found that there werefour genes which had lots of half estrogen response elements. These responseelements were very common in primate species, so the experts thought the seelements may had special function. They found that the estrogenic hormoneinhibited gene expression by combining these elements in cellular levelfunction experiment. When these elements was removed, the inhibition disappeared. These experiments confirmed the estrogenic regulatory effects onbrain capacity genes.

At the same time, they used chimpanzees and macaques to do repeated trials and found the same results. Sothis regulatory mechanism of estrogen was very common in primate species whichhad Sexual dimorphism in the brain. The researchresult has pubilshed on BMC Evoluutionarybiology. This project has gained the support from many nationalprojects.

Time:2015.7.1

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