AI Article Synopsis
- Kisspeptin (Kiss1) and neurokinin B (NKB) are crucial for starting puberty and maintaining fertility.
- Researchers studied how Kiss1 neurons in the brain synchronize their activity and control the release of hormones that stimulate reproductive function.
- This synchronized firing helps excite GnRH neurons and is a result of a complex interaction between different neuropeptides and neurotransmitters released by Kiss1 neurons.
Article Abstract
Kisspeptin (Kiss1) and neurokinin B (NKB) neurocircuits are essential for pubertal development and fertility. Kisspeptin neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (Kiss1(ARH)) co-express Kiss1, NKB, dynorphin and glutamate and are postulated to provide an episodic, excitatory drive to gonadotropin-releasing hormone 1 (GnRH) neurons, the synaptic mechanisms of which are unknown. We characterized the cellular basis for synchronized Kiss1(ARH) neuronal activity using optogenetics, whole-cell electrophysiology, molecular pharmacology and single cell RT-PCR in mice. High-frequency photostimulation of Kiss1(ARH) neurons evoked local release of excitatory (NKB) and inhibitory (dynorphin) neuropeptides, which were found to synchronize the Kiss1(ARH) neuronal firing. The light-evoked synchronous activity caused robust excitation of GnRH neurons by a synaptic mechanism that also involved glutamatergic input to preoptic Kiss1 neurons from Kiss1(ARH) neurons. We propose that Kiss1(ARH) neurons play a dual role of driving episodic secretion of GnRH through the differential release of peptide and amino acid neurotransmitters to coordinate reproductive function.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4995096 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16246 | DOI Listing |
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