Kisspeptins, the peptide products of the Kiss1 gene, were initially identified in mammals as ligands of the G protein-coupled receptor 54 (GPR54; also termed Kiss1R) with ability to suppress tumor metastasis. In late 2003, the indispensable role of kisspeptins in the control of reproductive function was disclosed by the seminal observations that humans and mice carrying inactivating mutations o...

Kisspeptins, endogenous peptide ligands for GPR54, play an important role in GnRH secretion. Since in vivo administration of kisspeptins induces increased plasma LH levels, GPR54 agonists hold promise as therapeutic agents for the treatment of hormonal secretion diseases. To facilitate the design of novel potent GPR54 ligands, residues in kisspeptins that involve in the interaction with GPR54 w...

Kisspeptin (previously known as metastin) is a protein encoded by the KISS-1 gene in humans. Kisspeptin producing neurons seem to bridge the gap between the sex steroid levels and feedback mechanisms that control the gonadotropin releasing hormone secretion. Since 2003, there are many studies on the facets of neuroendocrine networks that control puberty and fertility. These have explored the ro...

Since its first description in 1996, the KISS1 gene and its peptide products, kisspeptins, have increasingly become recognised as key regulators of reproductive health. With kisspeptins acting as ligands for the kisspeptin receptor KISS1R (previously known as GPR54 or KPR54), recent work has consistently shown that administration of kisspeptin across a variety of species stimulates gonadotrophi...

Procreation is essential for survival of species. Not surprisingly, complex neuronal networks have evolved to mediate the diverse internal and external environmental inputs that regulate reproduction in vertebrates. Ultimately, these regulatory factors impinge, directly or indirectly, on a final common pathway, the neurons producing the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which stimulates pi...

This study, conducted in the brain of a perciform fish, the European sea bass, aimed at raising antibodies against the precursor of the kisspeptins in order to map the kiss systems and to correlate the expression of kisspeptins, kiss1 and kiss2, with that of kisspeptin receptors (kiss-R1 and kiss-R2). Specific antibodies could be raised against the preprokiss2, but not the preoprokiss1. The dat...

Kisspeptins are neuropeptides that induce the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone via the activation of the cognate receptor, G-protein coupled receptor 54 (GPR54). The kisspeptin-GPR54 axis is associated with the onset of puberty and the maintenance of the reproductive system. In this study, several fluorescent probes have been designed and synthesized for rat GPR54 through the modific...

The present study assesses the effects of chronic administration of peptides to fish, termed kisspeptins, which are the products of the KISS1 and KISS2 genes, and have been shown to control the development of puberty in animals. Using ecologically and commercially important species (white bass, Morone chrysops, striped bass, Morone saxatilis, and their hybrid) as comparative models, we determin...

Kisspeptins, a family of neuropeptides encoded by the Kiss1 gene that are mainly expressed in discrete neuronal populations of the hypothalamus, have recently emerged as essential upstream regulatory elements of GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) neurons and, thereby, potent elicitors of gonadotropin secretion. Indeed, kisspeptins are now recognized as important regulators of key aspects of ...