Cloning of two hypothalamic cDNAs encoding tissue-specific transcripts in the preoptic area and testis.

Neuropeptides are central to the regulation of normal sexual development and reproduction. Two new hypothalamic cDNAs have been identified by Northern blot analysis and molecular cloning. Each potentially encodes a precursor for a unique GnRH-like decapeptide. Northern blot analysis reveals tissue-specific transcripts from each gene in the hypothalamus and testis. These preoptic area regulatory factor genes, PORF-1 and PORF-2, may thus encode members of a family of GnRH-related peptides which have been described in these tissues.