Functional Integration of Different-Sex Gonad Transplants Into the Adult Mouse Hypothalamic Pituitary Gonadal Axis
Recommended Citation
Pfau DR, Rionda MA, Cho E, Clark JG, Kruger RE, Chan-Sui RK, Padmanabhan V, Moravek MB, and Shikanov A. Functional Integration of Different-Sex Gonad Transplants Into the Adult Mouse Hypothalamic Pituitary Gonadal Axis. Adv Biol (Weinh) 2025;10(1):e00316.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Adv Biol (Weinh)
Keywords
Animals, Female, Male, Mice, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Gonads, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis
Abstract
Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) relies on exogenous hormones to produce hormonal milieus that achieve and/or maintain embodiment goals. Another potential route to these endpoints is transplantation of novel steroidogenic tissue. To develop a pre-clinical model, we asked whether different-sex gonad transplants can be functionally integrated into the adult mouse hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Adult male and female mice are gonadectomized and implanted with gonads from genetically matched but different-sex pups. Controls received gonads from same-sex pups. Temporal changes to gonadotropin and steroid hormone levels reveal the decoupling of the HPG following gonadectomy and gonad-dependent levels after transplanting donor gonads. After six weeks, histological structures in transplanted gonads are consistent with expected steroidogenesis and gametogenesis. Interestingly, pituitary, ARC, and AVPV mRNA showed gonad- and sex-dependent expression patterns. Future work with this technique could lead to translation to gender affirming care and explorations of gonad-dependent sex differences in biomedical and basic research.
Medical Subject Headings
Animals; Female; Male; Mice; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Gonads; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis
PubMed ID
41355063
ePublication
ePub ahead of print
Volume
10
Issue
1
First Page
00316
Last Page
00316
