ESPEYB15 1 Pituitary and Neuroendocrinology New mechanisms (6 abstracts)
1.1 Female sexual behavior in mice is controlled by kisspeptin neurons
Hellier V , Brock O , Candlish M , Desroziers E , Aoki M , Mayer C , Piet R , Herbison A , Colledge WH , Prevot V , Boehm U & Bakker J
GIGA Neurosciences, Neuroendocrinology, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
To read the full abstract: Nat Commun 2018;9.400
Pheromones play a crucial role to identify potential mates and sexual motivation in mice. These molecules are detected by a specialized circuit which initiates in the nasal septum and then relies on GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus in a sex-dependent manner. Female pheromones induce LH/testosterone release in male mice whereas male pheromones induce LH release in female mice. Kisspeptin is a potent stimulator of GnRH release. Its expression is sexually dimorphic in the hypothalamus, and it is the relay of the negative feedback of sexual steroids on GnRH neurons. In addition, the same group recently showed that a specific population of Kisspeptin neurons located in the anterior part of the hypothalamus of female mice are activated by male pheromones. These neurons were therefore natural candidates as a hub to control both sexual behavior and ovulation.
Here, the authors performed elegant and complementary experiments to support their hypothesis. Surprisingly, part of the kisspeptin effect on sexual behavior is not mediated through Kisspeptin receptor expressed on GnRH neurons. The results reported in this paper proposed that neurons expressing NO synthase could be one of these neurons. Additional experiments are needed to dissect the precise role of these neurons in the control of sexual behavior by kisspeptin. Altogether, these data showing the role of kisspeptin in sexual behavior in mice are in accordance with recent evidence that Kisspeptin enhances limbic activity in response to sexual stimuli in men1. In the future, it will be interesting to dissect how this mechanism is developing at the time of puberty.
1. Comninos AN, Wall MB, Demetriou L, Shah AJ, Clarke SA, Narayanaswamy S, Nesbitt A, Izzi-Engbeaya C, Prague JK, Abbara A, Ratnasabapathy R, Salem V, Nijher GM, Jayasena CN, Tanner M, Bassett P, Mehta A, Rabiner EA, Honigsperger C, Silva MR, Brandtzaeg OK, Lundanes E, Wilson SR, Brown RC, Thomas SA, Bloom SR, Dhillo WS Kisspeptin modulates sexual and emotional brain processing in humans. J Clin Invest. 2017;127(2):709-719
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ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology
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