GnRH Pulse Generation and Its Application to the Manipulation of Follicular Development and Ovulation

The hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis, plays a key role in the control of gonadal functions, such as follicular development, ovulation, spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis in mammals. Pulsatile gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) release drives tonic secretion of gonadotropin which mainly regulates folliculogenesis and steroidogenesis. On the other hand, the surge mode of GnRH generates the preovulatory LH surge which triggers ovulation. Accumulating evidence suggest that the kisspeptin neuron in the hypothalamus acts as a critical player in the mechanism governing pulsatile and surge modes of GnRH secretion. This paper focuses on the role of kisspeptin neurons in controlling mammalian reproduction in order to apply the mechanism for the manipulation of animal reproduction.