Enhanced at puberty 1 (EAP1) is a new transcriptional regulator of the female neuroendocrine reproductive axis.

ABSTRACT: The initiation of mammalian puberty and the maintenance of female reproductive cycles are events controlled by hypothalamic neurons that secrete the decapeptide gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH secretion is, in turn, controlled by changes in neuronal and glial inputs to GnRH-producing neurons. The hierarchical control of the process is unknown, but it requires coordinated regulation of these cell-cell interactions. Here we report the functional characterization of a gene (termed enhanced at puberty 1 [EAP1]) that appears to act as an upstream transcriptional regulator of neuronal networks controlling female reproductive function. EAP1 expression increased selectively at puberty in both the nonhuman primate and rodent hypothalamus. EAP1 encoded a nuclear protein expressed in neur

SUBMITTER: Heger S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1906733 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature