Laboratory of Neurobiology, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2010 Jul;22(7):825-32. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2010.02037.x.
In sheep and goats, the primer pheromone produced by the male induces out-of-seasonal ovulation in anoestrous females, the so-called 'male effect.' Because the initial endocrine event following reception of the pheromone is the stimulation of pulsatile luteinising hormone (LH) secretion, the central target of the pheromone is considered to be the putative gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) pulse generator. Using electrophysiological techniques to record multiple-unit activity (MUA) in close proximity to kisspeptin neurones in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of Shiba goats, we found that bursts (volleys) of MUA occur at regular intervals, and repetitive bursts are invariably associated with discrete pulses of LH, suggesting that the ARC kisspeptin neurones may be the intrinsic source of the GnRH pulse generator. A brief exposure of female goats to the pheromone immediately elicited an instantaneous rise in MUA, which is followed by an MUA volley and an accompanying LH pulse, indicating that the pheromone signal is transmitted to a subset of the ARC kisspeptin neurones to activate them. Because it has been suggested that the neurokinin B and dynorphin coexpressed in those neurones play critical roles in generating rhythmic bursts, they may be involved in the intracellular pheromone actions that are responsible for inducing the GnRH pulse.
在绵羊和山羊中，雄性产生的引物信息素诱导乏情雌性季节性排卵，即所谓的“雄性效应”。由于接收信息素后的初始内分泌事件是促黄体生成素（LH）分泌的脉冲刺激，因此信息素的中枢靶标被认为是促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）脉冲发生器。我们使用电生理技术记录接近弓状核（ARC） Kisspeptin 神经元的多单位活动（MUA），发现 MUA 以规则的间隔爆发（爆发），并且重复爆发总是与 LH 的离散脉冲相关，这表明 ARC Kisspeptin 神经元可能是 GnRH 脉冲发生器的固有来源。雌性山羊短暂暴露于信息素会立即引起 MUA 的瞬时增加，随后是 MUA 爆发和伴随的 LH 脉冲，表明信息素信号被传递到 ARC Kisspeptin 神经元的一个亚群以激活它们。因为已经表明，在这些神经元中共同表达的神经激肽 B 和强啡肽在产生节律性爆发中起关键作用，因此它们可能参与了诱导 GnRH 脉冲的细胞内信息素作用。
