Padmanabhan V, Lee J S, Beitins I Z
Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.
J Reprod Fertil Suppl. 1999;54:87-99.
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a key hormone in the regulation of follicular development. Although the existence of FSH heterogeneity is well established, the physiological significance of this pleomorphism remains unknown. Observed changes in circulating FSH heterogeneity during critical reproductive events such as puberty and reproductive cyclicity suggest that different combinations of FSH isoforms reach the target sites during different physiological states to influence a variety of biological end points such as cellular growth, development, steroidogenesis and protein synthesis. Considering that these FSH isoforms have different physicochemical properties and potential to bind not only their cognate receptors but also structurally related, non-FSH receptors with various affinities, the regulatory implications of FSH heterogeneity in modulating the various FSH-induced functions are enormous. However, assigning functional significance to FSH heterogeneity has been hampered because of (1) difficulties associated with procurement of highly purified, naturally occurring, circulating FSH isoforms; (2) absence of reference standards that contain the entire repertoire of FSH isoforms present in biological fluids; and (3) specificity issues inherent to the detection systems used. If particular FSH isoforms do possess selective biological functions, specific combinations of FSH isoforms could be generated to regulate fertility in farm animals and humans.
促卵泡激素（FSH）是调节卵泡发育的关键激素。尽管FSH异质性的存在已得到充分证实，但其多态性的生理意义仍不清楚。在青春期和生殖周期等关键生殖事件中观察到的循环FSH异质性变化表明，在不同生理状态下，不同组合的FSH异构体到达靶位点，影响多种生物学终点，如细胞生长、发育、类固醇生成和蛋白质合成。鉴于这些FSH异构体具有不同的物理化学性质，不仅能与它们的同源受体结合，还能与结构相关的非FSH受体以不同亲和力结合，FSH异质性在调节各种FSH诱导功能方面的调控意义重大。然而，由于以下原因，赋予FSH异质性功能意义受到了阻碍：（1）难以获得高度纯化的天然循环FSH异构体；（2）缺乏包含生物体液中所有FSH异构体的参考标准；（3）所用检测系统固有的特异性问题。如果特定的FSH异构体确实具有选择性生物学功能，那么可以生成特定组合的FSH异构体来调节农场动物和人类的生育能力。
