Congrats to Vahid and Shayan, their preprint was accepted for publication in the journal Development. Development also interviewed Vahid about the paper, click here. We used Google NotebookLM to generate a 10 minute podcast describing the work – click here to listen. Summary below:

This research, conducted using zebrafish embryos, explored the non-genomic effects of testosterone, specifically its ability to cause cardiac edema. The study found that testosterone acts through the membrane protein GPRC6A, independent of the nuclear androgen receptor, to induce this heart abnormality. This finding highlights a novel pathway for androgen signaling during embryonic development. Further investigation identified Pak1 as a key downstream target of testosterone-activated GPRC6A, suggesting that the hormone’s effects on heart development may be mediated through the inhibition of Pak1 signaling.