The product of the KiSS-1 gene is absent or expressed at low level in metastatic melanoma and breast cancer compared with their nonmetastatic counterparts. A polypeptide derived from the KiSS-1 product, designated kisspeptin-10 (Kp-10), activates a receptor coupled to Galphaq subunits (GPR54 or KiSS-1R). To study the mechanism by which Kp-10 antagonizes metastatic spread, the effect on CXCR4-me...

The discovery of the neuropeptide kisspeptin, originally derived from its antimetastatic property affecting malignant melanoma cells, as well as its role in reproductive function, was a milestone in the field of reproductive biology. Conventionally, the capacity for reproductive activity in mammals involves coordinated communication between the hypothalamus, the anterior pituitary, and the gona...

Trophoblast migration and invasion during pregnancy are under strict physiological control, both temporally and spatially. The trophoblast’s ability to invade the endometrium is regulated by the dynamic interaction between invasion-related genes. Once this dynamic balance is broken, the trophoblast exhibits abnormal invasion ability, often resulting in recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). Kiss...

BACKGROUND Kisspeptins (Kiss) are prime players in the control of reproductive function through their regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) expression in the brain. The experimental scombroid fish, chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) expresses two kiss (kiss1 and kiss2) and three gnrh (gnrh1, gnrh2, and gnrh3) forms in the brain. In the present study, we analyzed expression changes ...

Imagine a disease that prevents you from having biological children of your own. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is characterized by defects in gonadal development, which results in infertility or in failure to go through puberty (1). A deficient production of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and lutinizing hormone (LH) causes the disease (1). Tassigny et al., (2007) made a major discovery abou...

Kisspeptin is the product of the KISS1 (KiSS-1 metastasissuppressor) gene and is the ligand for the G-protein– coupled receptor, now known as the KISS1 receptor (KISS1R) (1 ). Both kisspeptin and KISS1R play a crucial role in the regulation of reproduction and puberty (1 ). The KISS1 gene encodes a precursor peptide of 145 amino acid residues, which undergoes proteolytic processing to generate ...

This Special Issue of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology covers an ebullient area of Neuroendocrinology, pertaining to the genetic, hormonal and neural mechanisms controlling the onset of puberty in mammals. This initiative was undertaken some one year ago upon the suggestion of the Editor-in-Chief, Ilpo Huhtaniemi, who wisely proposed this to be a topic of broad and renewed interest for the ...

In both male and female, gametogenesis is regulated by hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal axis (HPG) that corresponds to the hormonal axis, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)– gonadotropins–steroids. Indeed, the main target of GnRH is the gonadotrope cells, located in the adenohypophysis. These, in turn, release two gonadotropin hormones, the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and the luteinizin...