Neuroendocrine control of the onset of puberty.
This chapter is based on the Geoffrey Harris Memorial Lecture presented at the 8th International Congress of Neuroendocrinology, which was held in Sydney, August 2014. It provides the development of our understanding of the neuroendocrine control of puberty since Harris proposed in his 1955 monograph (Harris, 1955) that "a major factor responsible for puberty is an increased rate of release of pituitary gonadotrophin" and posited "that a neural (hypothalamic) stimulus, via the hypophysial portal vessels, may be involved." Emphasis is placed on the neurobiological mechanisms governing puberty in highly evolved primates, although an attempt is made to reverse translate a model for the timing of puberty in man and monkey to non-primate species.
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Magee-Womens Research Institute, USA. Electronic address: planttm@mwri.magee.edu.
Tony M
TM
Plant
D000818:Animals; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D009452:Neuroendocrinology / Q000379:methods; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000378:metabolism*; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*
D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone
GnRH pulse generation; GnRH surge generation; Human; Kisspeptin; Puberty; Rat; Rhesus monkey; Sheep