Comparison of Mauthner cell size in sexually developed and undeveloped male red-bellied newts
Matsumoto, A.; Arai, Y.; Kouki, T.; Kikuyama, S.
Journal of Neurobiology 28(1): 126-132
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-3034
PMID: 8586962
DOI: 10.1002/neu.480280111
Accession: 008354936
Differences in Mauthner (M) cell size were examined in sexually developed and undeveloped male red-bellied newts, Cynops pyrrhogaster. The mean areas of nuclei and cell bodies of M cells and mean maximum and minimum diameters of the cell bodies in the sexually developed males were significantly larger than those in the sexually undeveloped ones. In the hypophysectomized male newts, all these parameters were not significantly different from those in the sexually undeveloped ones. These values were significantly increased by treatment with both bovine prolactin and human chorionic gonadotropin every other day for 3 weeks after hypophysectomy, and these measures were comparable to those in the sexually developed males. These findings suggest that differences in M cell size between sexually developed and undeveloped male newts are due to alteration in hormonal milieu.