Journal
MOLECULES AND CELLS
Volume 32, Issue 2, Pages 203-207Publisher
KOREAN SOC MOLECULAR & CELLULAR BIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1007/s10059-011-0086-7
Keywords
antisense oligodeoxynucleotide; estrous cycle; gonadotropin-releasing hormone; hypothalamus; kisspeptin
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technology [20100016389]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
NELL2, a protein containing epidermal growth factor-like repeat domains, is predominantly expressed in the nervous system. In the mammalian brain, NELL2 expression is mostly neuronal. Previously we found that NELL2 is involved in the onset of female puberty by regulating the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), and in normal male sexual behavior by controlling the development of the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (POA). In this study we investigated the effect of NELL2 on the female rat estrous cycle. NELL2 expression in the POA was highest during the proestrous phase. NELL2 mRNA levels in the POA were increased by estrogen treatment in ovariectomized female rats. Blocking NELL2 synthesis in the female rat hypothalamus decreased the expression of kisspeptin 1, an important regulator of the GnRH neuronal apparatus, and resulted in disruption of the estrous cycle at the diestrous phase. These results indicate that NELL2 is involved in the maintenance of the normal female reproductive cycle in mammals.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available