Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jun;19(6):835-44.
doi: 10.1038/nn.4298. Epub 2016 May 2.

A microRNA switch regulates the rise in hypothalamic GnRH production before puberty

Andrea Messina  1   2 , Fanny Langlet  1   2   3 , Konstantina Chachlaki  1   2 , Juan Roa  4   5   6 , Sowmyalakshmi Rasika  7 , Nathalie Jouy  1   2 , Sarah Gallet  1   2 , Francisco Gaytan  4   5   6 , Jyoti Parkash  1   2 , Manuel Tena-Sempere  4   5   6 , Paolo Giacobini  1   2 , Vincent Prevot  1   2
Affiliations
Free article

A microRNA switch regulates the rise in hypothalamic GnRH production before puberty

Andrea Messina et al. Nat Neurosci. 2016 Jun.
Free article

Erratum in

Abstract

A sparse population of a few hundred primarily hypothalamic neurons forms the hub of a complex neuroglial network that controls reproduction in mammals by secreting the 'master molecule' gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Timely postnatal changes in GnRH expression are essential for puberty and adult fertility. Here we report that a multilayered microRNA-operated switch with built-in feedback governs increased GnRH expression during the infantile-to-juvenile transition and that impairing microRNA synthesis in GnRH neurons leads to hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and infertility in mice. Two essential components of this switch, miR-200 and miR-155, respectively regulate Zeb1, a repressor of Gnrh transcriptional activators and Gnrh itself, and Cebpb, a nitric oxide-mediated repressor of Gnrh that acts both directly and through Zeb1, in GnRH neurons. This alteration in the delicate balance between inductive and repressive signals induces the normal GnRH-fuelled run-up to correct puberty initiation, and interfering with this process disrupts the neuroendocrine control of reproduction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. J Neurosci. 2012 Aug 15;32(33):11486-94 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 2005 Nov 18;123(4):669-82 - PubMed
    1. J Neurosci. 2004 Mar 17;24(11):2797-805 - PubMed
    1. Elife. 2015 Jan 03;4:null - PubMed
    1. Endocr Rev. 2003 Oct;24(5):668-93 - PubMed

Publication types