Publications by authors named "Paige Steffen"
Article Synopsis
- Puberty marks a key transition to reproductive capability and is driven by the activation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons, with kisspeptin neurons likely playing a role in this activation.
- Researchers selectively removed arcuate kisspeptin neurons (KNDy neurons) in juvenile mice to study their influence on the timing of puberty, finding that their absence led to delayed puberty and lower hormone levels.
- The study concluded that while most KNDy neurons are critical for the timing of puberty onset, a smaller subset is sufficient for normal GnRH pulse timing, and full KNDy neuron functionality is not necessary for generating the LH surge in females.
Enhancers control the location and timing of gene expression and contain the majority of variants associated with disease. The ZRS is arguably the most well-studied vertebrate enhancer and mediates the expression of Shh in the developing limb. Thirty-one human single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) within the ZRS are associated with polydactyly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClassic pharmacological studies suggested that endogenous dynorphin-KOR signaling is important for reproductive neuroendocrine regulation. With the seminal discovery of an interconnected network of hypothalamic arcuate neurons co-expressing kisspeptin, neurokinin B, and dynorphin (KNDy neurons), the KNDy hypothesis was developed to explain how gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) pulses are generated. Key to this hypothesis is dynorphin released from KNDy neurons acting in a paracrine manner on other KNDy neurons via kappa opioid receptor (KOR) signaling to terminate neural "pulse" events.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKisspeptin, encoded by Kiss1, stimulates gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons to govern reproduction. In female rodents, estrogen-sensitive kisspeptin neurons in the rostral anteroventral periventricular (AVPV) hypothalamus are thought to mediate estradiol (E2)-induced positive feedback induction of the preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge. AVPV kisspeptin neurons coexpress estrogen and progesterone receptors (PGRs) and are activated during the LH surge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF