Pubertal sex hormones control transcriptional trajectories in the medial preoptic area

Pubertal maturation aids development of emotion, cognition, and reproduction. We investigated transcriptional dynamics in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), a hypothalamic center for reproductive behaviors, in male and female mice at single-cell resolution (scRNAseq) during puberty. Defined subsets of neurons expressing Slc32a1 and Esr1 (Vgat+ Esr1+) were the most transcriptionally dynamic compared to other cell types throughout puberty. These cell type specific transcriptional progressions towards adulthood were bidirectionally controlled by the levels of circulating testosterone and estradiol. Selective deletion of Esr1 in Slc32a1-expressing cells in the MPOA prior to puberty arrested transcriptional progression and revealed a sexually dimorphic gene-regulatory network governed by Esr1. Deletion of Esr1 in Vgat+ cells prevented the development of mating behavior in both sexes. These analyses reveal both sexually common and dimorphic transcriptional progressions during puberty as well as their regulatory mechanisms, which have important implications towards understanding adaptative and maladaptive processes governing adolescent brain development.