Study On Adult Neurogenesis In The Phrynocephalus Vlangalii During Different Seasons

The production of newneurons inthe adult vertebrate brain takes place by stages. New cells originate in specific brain sites, then migrate, and finally integrate into pre-existing circuits asmature neurons. Different factors have been found to affect each of these processes. These factorsmay be positive, such as enriched environmentsor physical exercise, or negative, such as stress. This suggests that the production and survival of newneurons play a role in adaptation to environmental demands and specific physiological states.Lizards, as well as birds, show seasonal behavioural variations (courting and mating in Spring, egg-laying and hatching in Summer, etc.), but in lizards they have not been related to adult neurogenesis. Interestingly, in songbirds, adult neurogenesis is regulated in a seasonal way. Mainly based on these findings we postulated the possibility of seasonal variations in adult lizard neurogenesis.Objective:The aim of present study is to investigate the seasonal influence on the adult neurogenesis in Phrynocephalus vlangalii-typical reptile in northwest of China, and analyze the corresponding mechanism. Among the total, adult neurogenesis in the Phrynocephalus vlangalii during hibernation was the key point we focus on.Methods:Lizards were captured during Match, July and September, respectively. According to surviving time the animals were divided into three groups:survivied24hours group,7days group, and28days group. The lizards that captured in September were used for the study of hibernation. Intraperitonial BrdU-injection, Immunocytochemistry were used to study the adult neurogenesis in the Phrynocephalus vlangalii during different seasons.Results:The adult neurogenesis is regulated in a seasonal way in the Phrynocephalus vlangalii obviously. While Autumn has the strongest adult neurogenesis, followed by Summer, Spring, and Winter. During the hibernation, adult neurogenesis still existence in the Phrynocephalus vlangalii, but was weak.In each season, variations was showed in different living time.While7days group has the strongest adult neurogenesis, followed by28days group and24hours group.