Thyroid and Brain

Brain sex differentiation is a complicated process. In mammals, gonadal steroid hormones (testosterone and estrogen) are suggested to play a crucial role in organizing the brain into male and female typical manner. However, apart from steroid hormones, there could be other key players involved in sex specific differentiation of the brain. Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) could be one of the potential regulators of brain sex differentiation. Thyroid hormone exerts critical roles in the regulation of physiological functions including metabolism, cell differentiation and neurodevelopment. To understand the role of thyroid hormone in brain sex differentiation, zebrafish will be used as a model system. This project will use CRISPR-Cas9 system to generate whole body as well as tissue specific knockouts to unravel the molecular mechanisms of thyroid hormones role in brain sex differentiation.