Charles Roselli, Ph.D.

  • Professor of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry, School of Medicine
  • Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine

Biography

Research in my lab concerns the actions of sex hormones in the brain. In mammals, brain tissue, particularly that which is involved in neuroendocrine function and reproductive behavior, contains high levels of cytochrome P450 aromatase. This enzyme converts circulating testosterone into estradiol. Although estradiol is generally considered a female hormone, aromatization seems to constitute a complementary signal pathway for androgen action in certain brain tissues. Estrogens are known to exert profound feedback effects on the brain that regulate reproduction and, more generally, are able to induce synaptic connections and protect neurons from injury. Locally-synthesized estradiol appears to play a role in male physiology that augments effects exerted by circulating testosterone.  Our current research uses sheep to address the question of how testosterone acts during development to organize male-typical features of brain morphology and neurochemistry to produce associated sex-differences in reproductive behaviors.   Sex differences in brain development are important to understand because they underlie robust neurological differences between healthy males and females and contribute to sex biases in the incidence of certain brain diseases and psychiatric conditions.

Areas of interest

  • Reproduction
  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Sexual differentiation
  • Sex difference

Publications

Publications

  • Effect of Fetal Pituitary-Testes Suppression on Brain Sexual Differentiation and Reproductive Function in Male Sheep

    Endocrinology
    1. Rebecka Amodei
    2. Sonnet S. Jonker
    3. Mary Smallman
    4. William Whitler
    5. Charles T. Estill
    6. Charles E. Roselli
  • Androgen receptors immunoreactivity in the rat brain of males with same-sex preference

    Hormones and Behavior
    1. Alonso Fernández-Guasti
    2. Blanca Gómez Quintanar
    3. Rebeca Reyes
    4. Alejandra Hernández
    5. Roberto Chavira
    6. Charles E. Roselli
  • Identification of differential hypothalamic DNA methylation and gene expression associated with sexual partner preferences in rams

    PloS one
    1. Surajit Bhattacharya
    2. Rebecka Amodei
    3. Eric Vilain
    4. Charles E. Roselli
  • The GnRH Antagonist Degarelix Suppresses Gonadotropin Secretion and Pituitary Sensitivity in Midgestation Sheep Fetuses

    Endocrinology
    1. Rebecka Amodei
    2. Sonnet S. Jonker
    3. William Whitler
    4. Charles T. Estill
    5. Charles E. Roselli
  • Role for Kisspeptin and Neurokinin B in Regulation of Luteinizing Hormone and Testosterone Secretion in the Fetal Sheep

    Endocrinology
    1. Rebecka Amodei
    2. Kyle Gribbin
    3. Wen He
    4. Isa Lindgren
    5. Keely R. Corder
    6. Sonnet S. Jonker
    7. Charles T. Estill
    8. Lique M. Coolen
    9. Michael N. Lehman
    10. William Whitler
    11. Fred Stormshak
    12. Charles E. Roselli
  • In vivo magnetic resonance imaging reveals the effect of gonadal hormones on morphological and functional brain sexual dimorphisms in adult sheep

    Psychoneuroendocrinology
    1. David André Barrière
    2. Arsène Ella
    3. Hans Adriaensen
    4. Charles E. Roselli
    5. Philippe Chemineau
    6. Matthieu Keller
  • Cardiac myocyte proliferation and maturation near term is inhibited by early gestation maternal testosterone exposure

    American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
    1. Sonnet S. Jonker
    2. Samantha Louey
    3. Charles E. Roselli
  • Early prenatal androgen exposure reduces testes size and sperm concentration in sheep without altering neuroendocrine differentiation and masculine sexual behavior

    Domestic Animal Endocrinology
    1. C. M. Scully
    2. C. T. Estill
    3. R. Amodei
    4. A. McKune
    5. K. P. Gribbin
    6. M. Meaker
    7. F. Stormshak
    8. C. E. Roselli
  • Fos expression in the olfactory pathway of high- and low-sexually performing rams exposed to urine from estrous or ovariectomized ewes

    Applied Animal Behaviour Science
    1. Amanda Jo Mirto
    2. Kathleen Jeanette Austin
    3. Valerie Ann Uthlaut
    4. Charles Eugene Roselli
    5. Brenda Mae Alexander
  • Tyrosine hydroxylase in the ventral tegmental area of rams with high or low libido—A role for dopamine

    Animal Reproduction Science
    1. A. C. Kramer
    2. A. J. Mirto
    3. K. J. Austin
    4. C. E. Roselli
    5. B. M. Alexander
  • Effects of Long-Term Flutamide Treatment During Development on Sexual Behaviour and Hormone Responsiveness in Rams

    Journal of Neuroendocrinology
    1. C. E. Roselli
    2. M. Meaker
    3. F. Stormshak
    4. C. T. Estill
  • Excess testosterone exposure alters hypothalamic-pituitary-Testicular axis dynamics and gene expression in sheep fetuses

    Endocrinology
    1. Charles E. Roselli
    2. Rebecka Amodei
    3. Kyle P. Gribbin
    4. Keely Corder
    5. Fred Stormshak
    6. Charles T. Estill
  • Effect of testosterone on neuronal morphology and neuritic growth of fetal lamb hypothalamus-preoptic area and cerebral cortex in primary culture

    PloS one
    1. Radhika C. Reddy
    2. Rebecka Amodei
    3. Charles T. Estill
    4. Fred Stormshak
    5. Mary Meaker
    6. Charles E.Roselli Roselli
  • Cell death in the central division of the medial preoptic nucleus of male and female lamb fetuses

    Brain research
    1. Radhika C. Reddy
    2. Melissa Scheldrup
    3. Mary Meaker
    4. Fred Stormshak
    5. Charles T. Estill
    6. Charles E. Roselli
  • Prenatal influence of an androgen agonist and antagonist on the differentiation of the ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus in male and female lamb fetuses

    Endocrinology
    1. Charles E. Roselli
    2. Radhika C. Reddy
    3. Charles T. Estill
    4. Melissa Scheldrup
    5. Mary Meaker
    6. Fred Stormshak
    7. Hernán J. Montilla
  • Sex differences in expression of oestrogen receptor α but not androgen receptor mRNAs in the foetal lamb brain

    Journal of Neuroendocrinology
    1. R. C. Reddy
    2. C. T. Estill
    3. M. Meaker
    4. F. Stormshak
    5. C. E. Roselli
  • Neonatal testosterone exposure protects adult male rats from stroke

    Neuroendocrinology
    1. Rebecca W. Persky
    2. Fudong Liu
    3. Yan Xu
    4. Gillian Weston
    5. Stephanie Levy
    6. Charles E. Roselli
    7. Louise D. McCullough
  • Rapid effects of 17β-estradiol on male copulatory behaviors are not elicited by the novel membrane active estrogenic compound STX

    Behavioral Neuroscience
    1. Katherine R. Kaufman
    2. Martin J. Kelly
    3. Charles E. Roselli
  • Ontogeny of Cytochrome P450 Aromatase mRNA Expression in the Developing Sheep Brain

    Journal of Neuroendocrinology
    1. C. E. Roselli
    2. F. Stormshak
  • Localization of brain 5α-reductase messenger RNA in mice selectively bred for high chronic alcohol withdrawal severity

    Alcohol
    1. Charles E. Roselli
    2. Timothy J. Finn
    3. Sean M. Ronnekleiv-Kelly
    4. Michelle A. Tanchuck
    5. Katherine R. Kaufman
    6. Deborah A. Finn
  • Separate critical periods exist for testosterone-induced differentiation of the brain and genitals in sheep

    Endocrinology
    1. Charles E. Roselli
    2. Charles T. Estill
    3. Henry L. Stadelman
    4. Mary Meaker
    5. Fred Stormshak