Preoptic neuronal nitric oxide synthase induction by testosterone is consistent with a role in gating male copulatory behavior.

Copulatory behaviors are generally dependent on testicular androgens in male vertebrates, being eliminated by castration and reinstated by testosterone administration. It is postulated that a critical factor in this hormonal gating is up-regulation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the preoptic area, and consequent enhanced nitric oxide synthesis in response to stimuli associated with a receptive female. Previous studies have suggested that nNOS protein is more abundant in behaviorally relevant preoptic regions of testosterone-exposed animals than in hormone-deprived controls. This study sought to elucidate the molecular events underlying this apparent up-regulation by examining preoptic nNOS mRNA abundance at several time points following testosterone administration in a castration and replacement paradigm. Castrated male whiptails (Cnemidophorus inornatus) were implanted with testosterone, and at four time points over the subsequent 18 days their sexual behavior was tested. A rostral periventricular area previously implicated in hormonal gating of male-typical copulatory behavior was then excised by laser microdissection, and nNOS transcript abundance was assessed by quantitative PCR. As neither this technique nor nNOS mRNA measurements have previously been performed in this area of the brain, expression was concomitantly assayed on adjacent sections by in situ hybridization or NADPH diaphorase histochemistry. Results are consistent with transcriptional up-regulation of nNOS by testosterone and a central role for the enzyme in mediating hormonal gating of copulatory behavior.