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The neuropeptide oxytocin has a wide spectrum of physiological actions, including important autonomic effects in both genders, endocrine effects on pituitary hormones, and behavioral effects. Regarding the latter, oxytocin contributes both directly and indirectly to the neurobiological mechanisms of mating behavior by the female, including the attendant elevation of sexual motivation (reviewed in Pfaff, The MIT Press, 1999). Relying heavily on this reference and on a voluminous recent literature on the molecular biology of oxytocin, its receptor and its actions, we review some aspects of the contributions of oxytocin to reproductive behavior (Section I), hormonal controls over the genes for oxytocin and its receptor (Section II), and the signal transduction subsequent to oxytocin binding, as subserved by G-proteins (Section III). |
