Wellington: Scientists have discovered the crucial ovulationtriggering role played by a small protein molecule in the brain, a finding that could hold the key to new therapies for infertility.
Dubbed kisspeptin, the protein is known to play a vital role in kick-starting puberty.
Now, a group from the University of Otago led by Professor Allan Herbison, in collaboration with Cambridge University researchers, has published the first evidence that kisspeptin signalling in the brain is also essential for ovulation to occur in adults.
Studying female mice, the researchers found that signalling between kisspeptin and its cell receptor GPR54 was essential to activate gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) neurons, the nerve cells known to initiate ovulation.
The research appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. “This is an exciting finding, as people have been trying to find out precisely how the brain controls ovulation for more than 30 years. This work now reveals a crucial link in the brain circuitry responsible,” Herbison said in a statement. REUTERS
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