Molecular and Functional Investigations of GnRH in Lamprey Reproduction

大脑通过称为荷尔蒙的化学媒介控制生殖。被认为是生殖控制的大脑激素，也是所有脊椎动物的重要激素是促性腺激素释放激素，GnRH。近年来，对无颌脊椎动物七鳃鳗的研究表明，它的促性腺激素释放激素有不止一种分子形式，作用于位于大脑底部的腺体，称为脑下垂体。七鳃鳗是脊椎动物中最原始的血统。该项目利用分子和生理技术来分离和表征编码脑下垂体细胞上的分子受体分子的基因组序列，以及脑下垂体产生的对GnRH反应的激素(促性腺激素)。结果将告诉七鳃鳗促性腺激素释放激素是否与其他脊椎动物中发现的促性腺激素释放激素有共同的功能和发育特征，以及在不同的环境条件下，七鳃鳗如何利用这些多种形式的促性腺激素释放激素来调节不同生命阶段的生殖。这种比较方法可以推断在脊椎动物的进化过程中生殖控制是如何产生的。这个项目将增加我们对生殖控制以及它是如何进化的理解，因此将对内分泌学和一般脊椎动物生物学产生超越神经科学的影响。该项目还有可能制定对影响商业渔业的捕食性动物的控制措施，有力地整合了研究生和本科生的教育和培训机会，并在国际合作中发挥了重要作用。

The brain controls reproduction through chemical mediators called hormones. The brain hormone that is known as the master control of reproduction, and an important one for all vertebrates is gonadotropin-releasing hormone, GnRH. Studies in recent years on the jawless vertebrate called the lamprey, representing the most primitive lineage of vertebrates, show that its GnRH has more than one molecular form that acts at a gland called the pituitary that sits at the base of the brain. This project utilizes molecular and physiological techniques to isolate and characterize the genomic sequences that encode the molecular receptor molecules on cells in the pituitary and the hormones (gonadotropins) produced by the pituitary that respond to GnRH. Results will tell whether lamprey GnRHs share common functional and developmental features with the GnRH found in other vertebrates, and how these multiple forms of GnRH are used by lampreys to regulate reproduction at different life stages under different environmental conditions. The comparative approach allows inferences about how the control of reproduction arose in the evolution of vertebrates. This project will increase our understanding of reproductive control and how it evolved, and so will have an impact beyond neuroscience on endocrinology and vertebrate biology in general. This project also has potential for developing controls for a predatory animal that affects commercial fisheries, has strongly integrated educational and training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, and has a strong component of international collaboration.