Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone as a regulator of social interactions in vertebrates
Yasuko Tobari1, Yana Aleksandrova2, Yoko Fukahori3
1Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Azabu University, Fuchinobe 1-17-71, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara City 252-5201, Japan; Center for Human and Animal Symbiosis Science, Azabu University, Fuchinobe 1-17-71, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5201, Japan.
Abstract:
The social environment changes circulating hormone levels and expression of social behavior in animals. Social information is perceived by sensory systems, leading to cellular and molecular changes through neural processes. Peripheral reproductive hormone levels are regulated by activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Until the end of the last century, the neurochemical systems that convey social information to the HPG axis were not well understood. Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) was the first hypothalamic neuropeptide shown to inhibit gonadotropin release, in 2000. GnIH is now regarded as a negative upstream regulator of the HPG axis, and it is becoming increasingly evident that it responds to social cues. In addition to controlling reproductive physiology, GnIH seems to modulate the reproductive behavior of animals. Here, we review studies investigating how GnIH neurons respond to social information and describe the mechanisms through which GnIH regulates social behavior.
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