Figure 7.

TRPM8 mediates sex reward mechanism. Age‐matched WT and TRPM8^−/− male and female mice were sacrificed before and immediately after mating events and the brains processed for the DA activity by assessing the number of neurons in the VTA co‐labeled for DA‐specific marker TH and a marker of neuronal activity cFos. A, representative images of TH (green, by Alexa‐488) and cFos (red, by Alexa‐594) labeled neurons at the VTA regions of coronal brain slices, obtained by confocal microscopy at 20X magnification. Scale bars: 100 μm. B, quantification of the TH/cFos co‐labeled cells in VTA before and after mating for the WT and TRPM8^−/− male (left panels) and female (right panels) mice for individual slices (upper panels) and mean ± s.e.m (lower panels). Statistical significance was determined using one‐way ANOVA test. P = .537 for WT vs TRPM8^−/− males premating; P = 1.875 × 10⁻⁵ for WT males pre‐ vs post‐mating; P = .423 for TRPM8^−/− males pre‐ vs post‐mating; P = 5.695 × 10⁻⁷ for WT vs TRPM8^−/− males post‐mating; P = .134 for WT vs TRPM8^−/− females premating; P = .357 for WT females pre‐ vs post‐mating; P = 7.1 × 10⁻⁵ for TRPM8^−/− females pre‐ vs post‐mating; P = .372 for WT vs TRPM8^−/− females post‐mating