Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Fertil Steril. 2010 May 15;93(8):2465-85. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2010.03.034. Epub 2010 Apr 18.
The pituitary gonadotropin hormones, FSH and LH, are key regulators of reproductive physiology. Though the two hormones are produced by the same cell type, often in response to the same endocrine and paracrine regulators, they sub-serve different biological functions and their synthesis and secretion are differentially regulated. This stems largely from differences in transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational regulation of their unique beta subunits. That is, both hormones are dimeric glycoproteins and share a common alpha subunit. Their unique beta subunits, however, derive from different genes encoding distinct proteins. Past and recent research indicates synthesis and release of the two hormones are subject to extensive and independent regulation. LH appears to be secreted predominantly via the regulated secretory pathway, whereas FSH release is largely constitutive. As such, investigations of FSH-beta subunit synthesis may lend direct insight into mechanisms underlying patterns of secreted FSH, more so than investigations of the LHbeta subunit. Here, we review recent investigations of transcriptional regulation of the FSH-beta subunit gene from different mammalian species, including humans. The results reveal both conserved and species-specific regulatory mechanisms that might contribute to inter-species variation in FSH release.
垂体促性腺激素，FSH 和 LH，是生殖生理学的关键调节剂。尽管这两种激素由同一种细胞类型产生，通常对相同的内分泌和旁分泌调节剂做出反应，但它们具有不同的生物学功能，其合成和分泌受到不同的调节。这主要源于它们独特的β亚基的转录、转录后和翻译后调节的差异。也就是说，这两种激素都是二聚体糖蛋白，共享一个共同的α亚基。然而，它们独特的β亚基来自不同的基因，编码不同的蛋白质。过去和最近的研究表明，两种激素的合成和释放受到广泛而独立的调节。LH 似乎主要通过受调节的分泌途径分泌，而 FSH 释放则主要是组成型的。因此，对 FSH-β亚基合成的研究可能比对 LHβ亚基的研究更能直接深入了解分泌型 FSH 的模式背后的机制。在这里，我们回顾了最近对包括人类在内的不同哺乳动物物种的 FSH-β亚基基因转录调节的研究。研究结果揭示了保守和物种特异性的调节机制，这些机制可能导致 FSH 释放的种间差异。
