AgRP and POMC neurons are hypophysiotropic and coordinately regulate multiple endocrine axes in a larval teleost.

ABSTRACT: Plasticity in growth and reproductive behavior is found in many vertebrate species, but is common in male teleost fish. Typically, "bourgeois" males are considerably larger and defend breeding territories while "parasitic" variants are small and use opportunistic breeding strategies. The P locus mediates this phenotypic variation in Xiphophorus and encodes variant alleles of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R). However, deletion of the MC4R has modest effects on somatic growth and reproduction in mammals, suggesting a fundamental difference in the neuroendocrine function of central melanocortin signaling in teleosts. Here we show in a teleost that the hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin and AgRP neurons are hypophysiotropic, projecting to the pituitary to coordinately regulate multiple pituit

SUBMITTER: Zhang C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3332529 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature