据7月《自然—神经科学》上的一项研究显示，雌性草原田鼠的择偶偏好牵涉到其体内基因结构的一些变化，这些变化不涉及DNA序列，但会影响遗传表达。这些所谓的表观遗传学变化会伴随着交配进行而发生——一旦交配，则意味着草原田鼠这种一夫一妻制的动物有了终身配对。
Mohamed Kabbaj等人采用了曲古抑霉素A（TSA）这种可导致组蛋白发生变化、让细胞内DNA浓缩的药物，让雌性田鼠在未交配的情况下成功配对。组蛋白涉及到的这些表观遗传学变化特定发生在针对后叶催产素和后叶加压素的基因编码受体中——这两种激素属于荷尔蒙，总体上对择偶偏好和社交行为有重要影响。服用TSA的雌性田鼠大脑内的后叶催产素和后叶加压素的浓度水平都有所上升，Kabbaj发现阻碍这些受体的药物能够防止田鼠配对。
这项发现显示了某些表观遗传学变化与草原田鼠社交配对的形成有关，同时也暗示了其他动物种类的其他类型社交行为可能也受到类似变化的影响。（生物谷Bioon.com）
Nature Neuroscience DOI:10.1038/nn.3420
Hui Wang,Florian Duclot,Yan Liu,Zuoxin Wang,Mohamed Kabbaj
Histone deacetylase inhibitors facilitate partner preference formation in female prairie voles
In the socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), mating induces enduring pair-bonds that are initiated by partner preference formation and regulated by a variety of neurotransmitters, including oxytocin, vasopressin and dopamine. We examined potential epigenetic mechanisms mediating pair-bond regulation and found that the histone deacetylase inhibitors sodium butyrate and trichostatin A (TSA) facilitated partner preference formation in female prairie voles in the absence of mating. This was associated with a specific upregulation of oxytocin receptor (OTR, oxtr) and vasopressin V1a receptor (V1aR, avpr1a) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), through an increase in histone acetylation at their respective promoters. Furthermore, TSA-facilitated partner preference was prevented by OTR or V1aR blockade in the NAcc. Notably, mating-induced partner preference triggered the same epigenetic regulation of oxtr and avpr1a gene promoters as TSA. These observations indicate that TSA and mating facilitate partner preference through epigenetic events, providing, to the best of our knowledge, the first direct evidence for epigenetic regulation of pair-bonding.
