Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63104, USA.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2013 Feb;25(2):206-15. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2012.02381.x.
Normal anterior pituitary function is essential for fertility. Release from the gland of the reproductive hormones luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone is regulated primarily by hypothalamically-derived gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), although other releasing factors (RF) have been postulated to exist. Using a bioinformatic approach, we have identified a novel peptide, phoenixin, that regulates pituitary gonadotrophin secretion by modulating the expression of the GnRH receptor, an action with physiologically relevant consequences. Compromise of phoenixin in vivo using small interfering RNA resulted in the delayed appearance of oestrus and a reduction in GnRH receptor expression in the pituitary. Phoenixin may represent a new class of hypothalamically-derived pituitary priming factors that sensitise the pituitary to the action of other RFs, rather than directly stimulating the fusion of secretary vesicles to pituitary membranes.
正常的垂体前叶功能对于生育能力至关重要。生殖激素促黄体生成素和卵泡刺激素从腺垂体的释放主要受到下丘脑衍生的促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）的调节，尽管已经假设存在其他释放因子（RF）。我们使用生物信息学方法鉴定了一种新的肽，凤凰素，它通过调节 GnRH 受体的表达来调节垂体促性腺激素的分泌，这种作用具有生理相关的后果。使用小干扰 RNA 体内削弱凤凰素会导致发情出现延迟，以及垂体中 GnRH 受体表达减少。凤凰素可能代表一类新的下丘脑衍生的垂体启动因子，使垂体对其他 RF 的作用敏感，而不是直接刺激分泌小泡与垂体膜融合。
