title: The gonadotropin-releasing hormone type I receptor is expressed in the mouse cerebellum.
abstract: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a decapeptide hypothalamic hormone that was named according to its first discovered function--at the head of the neuroendocrine reproductive axis. Numerous other organ systems express GnRH and/or its receptor, although a specific physiological role for GnRH outside of the reproductive axis has yet to be established. Several studies in lower vertebrates have reported GnRH and/or its receptor in the cerebellum. Here, we describe the presence of immunoreactive GnRH receptors in the Purkinje cells of the mammalian cerebellum for the first time. This study provides compelling anatomical evidence for a common link between the cerebellum and the hypothalamo-pituitary axis. Dysfunction of this link occurs in the rare genetic ataxia disorders--Gordon Holmes syndrome and Boucher-Neuhauser syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physiology & Neurobiology Program, University of Wyoming, Dept 3166, 1000 E University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
authors.forename: Asher J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Albertson
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Talbott
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Donal C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Skinner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002524:Cerebellar Ataxia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D011498:Protein Precursors; C050866:progonadoliberin I; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone