title: Contribution of GnIH Research to the Progress of Reproductive Neuroendocrinology.
abstract: Since the discovery of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in mammals at the beginning of the 1970s, it was generally accepted that GnRH is the only hypothalamic neuropeptide regulating gonadotropin release in mammals and other vertebrates. In 2000, however, gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH), a novel hypothalamic neuropeptide that actively inhibits gonadotropin release, was discovered in quail. Numerous studies over the past decade and a half have demonstrated that GnIH serves as a key player regulating reproduction across vertebrates, acting on the brain and pituitary to modulate reproductive physiology and behavior. In the latter case, recent evidence indicates that GnIH can regulate reproductive behavior through changes in neurosteroid, such as neuroestrogen, biosynthesis in the brain. This review summarizes the discovery of GnIH, and the contributions to GnIH research focused on its mode of action, regulation of biosynthesis, and how these findings advance our understanding of reproductive neuroendocrinology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Integrative Brain Sciences, Department of Biology and Center for Medical Life Science, Waseda University , Tokyo , Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Integrative Brain Sciences, Department of Biology and Center for Medical Life Science, Waseda University , Tokyo , Japan ; Brain Research Institute Monash Sunway of the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia , Petaling Jaya , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ubuka
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Integrative Brain Sciences, Department of Biology and Center for Medical Life Science, Waseda University , Tokyo , Japan.
authors.forename: You Lee
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Son
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley , Berkeley, CA , USA.
authors.forename: George E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Bentley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley , Berkeley, CA , USA.
authors.forename: Lance J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kriegsfeld
keywords: gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone; gonadotropin-releasing hormone; gonadotropins; melatonin; reproduction; reproductive behavior; social environment; stress