Speaker: Dr. David Pépin, Harvard Medical School
Title: Development of a new non-hormonal contraceptive targeting the AMH/AMHR2 axis in females.
Description: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a paracrine factor produced by growing follicles that mediates negative feedback on the activation and growth of new pre-antral follicles. Sustained supraphysiological AMH can suppress follicular development and induce contraception. Herein we will present findings on the mechanism of action of AMH in follicles, the development of new contraceptive modalities including gene therapy with AMH and small molecule agonists of the AMH receptor (AMHR2), and their evaluation in several animal models from mice to cats.
Early-life nutrition modulates the development of the reproductive neuroendocrine system. In my webinar, I will discuss how nutrition during early development can program key cellular and molecular alterations in the hypothalamus and how those modifications can impact puberty and subsequent fertility in ruminants.
In this presentation I will be covering the novel pathways in which Kiss1 neurons participate in the bidirectional regulation of energy balance and reproduction. In particular, I will talk about novel transcription factors involved in this regulatory process and offer evidence supporting a role for Kiss1 neurons in the mediation of the reproductive and metabolic role of melanocortins.
In females, the mid-cycle surge in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion triggers ovulation. This neuroendocrine process is mediated by a population of neurons in the preoptic area that produce the neuropeptide kisspeptin and drive the activity of GnRH neurons for the surge. In female rodents, and possibly in other species, the preovulatory surge is timed to precede the onset of activity to ensure that ovulation coincides with sexual behavior. In this presentation, I will focus on the regulation of preoptic area kisspeptin neuron activity by the central circadian clock.
The brain, it makes hormones with zeal.
The control of our gonads is real.
The cells they call candy,
Are certainly dandy.
But what about non-neural glia?
Dr. Andrew Pask is a Professor in the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on development of the reproductive system and particularly the influence of hormones and endocrine disruptors on reproductive disease. Using mouse, human and marsupial models his research has redefined the role of hormones in gonadal and penis development and the developmental and molecular mechanisms driving sexual differentiation.
