Loss of Function of the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule NrCAM Regulates Differentiation, Proliferation and Neurogenesis in Early Postnatal Hypothalamic Tanycytes.

Hypothalamic tanycytes are neural stem and progenitor cells, but little is known of how they are regulated. Here we provide evidence that the cell adhesion molecule, NrCAM, regulates tanycytes in the adult niche. NrCAM is strongly expressed in adult mouse tanycytes.

Genome sequencing and transcriptome analyses of the Siberian hamster hypothalamus identify mechanisms for seasonal energy balance.

Synthesis of triiodothyronine (T) in the hypothalamus induces marked seasonal neuromorphology changes across taxa. How species-specific responses to T signaling in the CNS drive annual changes in body weight and energy balance remains uncharacterized. These experiments sequenced and annotated the Siberian hamster () genome, a model organism for seasonal physiology research, to facilitate the dissection of T-dependent molecular mechanisms that govern predictable, robust, and long-term changes in body weight.

Puberty: mind and body.

Puberty is the attainment of fertility -- the ability to reproduce. It occurs because our brains begin to secrete one key hormone, gonadotropin-releasing hormone. This causes the pituitary gland to induce maturation of the testis and the ovary, which then produce sex steroid hormones and mature sperm and eggs.