Electrical synapses connect a network of gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons in a cichlid fish
Abstract
The hypothalamus controls reproductive development and function via a small peptide, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH1), delivered to the pituitary. To be effective, GnRH1 must be released in a pulsatile manner, but it is not known how this is achieved. We recorded from pairs of genetically labeled GnRH1 neurons in the brains of reproductively active fish and show that these cells are strongly and uniformly interconnected by electrical synapses that can be reversibly blocked. These electrical synapses likely contribute to the pulsatile firing of GnRH1 neurons, producing the coordinated output needed for reproduction, the most important act of any organism.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- March 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1421851112
- Bibcode:
- 2015PNAS..112.3805M