Fig. 8

Schematic representation of sexually dimorphic regulation of neonatal DG neurogenesis. In the developing DG, males have more DNA methylation, possibly related to limited demethylation with relatively less expression of Gadd45α, a factor essential for recruitment of base excision repair factors required for demethylation. Treatment of males with the DNA methylation inhibitor, ZEB, decreases proliferation in the DG, but the drug does not alter proliferation in the female DG. HDAC activity is higher in the developing female DG and treatment with the HDAC inhibitor, TSA, increases proliferation only in the female. This suggests that sexually dimorphic epigenetic regulation converges to promote proliferation in the male DG and suppress proliferation in the female DG to establish the observed sex difference in cell genesis