ABR: Novel Glycoprotein Hormone, Signaling Mechanisms, and Transcriptome Profiling in a Basal Vertebrate

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This research will investigate the brain and pituitary glycoprotein hormones and respective receptors that regulate reproduction in a the basal vertebrate, the sea lamprey. Lampreys have an ancestral unique pituitary glycoprotein hormone (GpH) not found in any other vertebrate. This project will examine the origin and/or divergence of the pituitary glycoprotein-hormone-receptor families and the molecular mechanisms and dynamics of pituitary GpH signaling. Results will tell whether these hormones share common functional and developmental features with the other hormones found in all other vertebrates. This project will provide key information in neuroscience, neuroendocrinology, molecular biology and vertebrate biology, and it will provide training oppportunities for postdocs, undergraduates and graduate students in these areas. Gaining a further understanding of reproductive hormones and their respective receptors, interactions with neurotransmitters and testing analogs will be critical for development of novel strategies for improving and controlling reproduction. The PI as Director of the Center for Molecular and Comparative Endocrinology (CME) facilitates worldwide and local collaborations, laboratory exchange visits and chalk talks that yield benefits leading to increased student/postdoc engagement in the research community. Outreach activities are varied and broad, including public talks and collaborating with a Biotechnology Program at a local community college. A lamprey brain atlas will also be developed as an interactive neuroanatomy digital resource to be available for the scientific community. The PI and members of the laboratory are involved with an international group of 47 scientists who are annotating the lamprey genome. The data generated through the research will consist of nucleotide and protein sequences, phylogenetic analysis, graphs, three-dimensional structures of the receptors, reconstructed microscopic images, photographs, and hand-recorded observations, and will be made available to qualified parties by the PI so long as such a request does not compromise intellectual property interests, interfere with publication, invade subject privacy, or betray confidentiality.