Estrogenic control of preoptic area development in a carnivore, the ferret

1. Evidence is reviewed which shows that a sexually dimorphic nucleus located in the dorsomedial portion of the male ferret's preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (POA/AH), called the male nucleus of the POA/AH (Mn-POA/AH), develops during fetal life in response to the action of estradiol, which is formed directly in the nervous system from circulating testosterone over the final quarter of a 41-day gestation. 2. Results are summarized which establish that neurons which make up the Mn-POA/AH are born prior to the critical period of estradiol's action in the male brain. Other data show that some radial glial processes, visualized immunocytochemically using antibodies against GFAP, emanate from proliferative zones at the base of the lateral ventricles in a dorsal-ventral orientation, whereas other glial processes emanate laterally from proliferative zones lining the third ventricle. 3. We suggest that at least some neurons which constitute the dorsomedial POA/AH are born in proliferative zones surrounding the lateral ventricles, raising the question of whether estradiol acts in developing males to influence the migration of these neurons along radial glial guides into the Mn-POA/AH. 4. Finally, evidence is summarized showing that excitotoxic lesions of the dorsomedial POA/AH enhance males' preference to approach and interact with another sexually active male, as opposed to an estrous female, when adult subjects are castrated and treated with estradiol benzoate. These data suggest that the sexually dimorphic Mn-POA/AH is an essential part of a CNS circuit which determines heterosexual partner preference in the male ferret.