Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2022 Feb 2. doi: 10.1002/anie.202117596. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Quantitative measurements of sex difference in vesicle chemistry (i.e., chemical storage and release) at a single vesicle level are very essential to understand sex differences in cognitive behaviors; however, such measurements are very challenging to conventional analytical methods. By using single-vesicle electrochemistry, we find the duration of single exocytotic events of chromaffin cells prepared from male rats is statistically longer than that from female rats, leading to more neurotransmitter released in male group. Further analysis reveals that a higher percentage of vesicles in female group release part of neurotransmitter, i.e., partial release, during exocytosis than that in male group. This sex dimorphism in neurotransmitter release in exocytosis might relate to the sex difference in the expression of voltage-dependent calcium channels and membrane lipid composition. Our finding offers the first experimental evidence that sex dimorphism even exists in vesicle chemistry, providing a brand new viewpoint for understanding the sex dimorphism in cognitive behaviors.
PMID:35112448 | DOI:10.1002/anie.202117596
