Pulsatile release of GnRH-1 is critical to stimulate gonadotropes of the anterior pituitary. This secretory pattern seems to be inherent to GnRH-1 neurons, however, the mechanisms underlying such episodical release remain unknown. In monkey nasal explants, the GnRH-1 population exhibits synchronized calcium events with the same periodicity as GnRH-1 release, suggesting a link, though the sequence of events was unclear. GnRH-1 neurons in mouse nasal explants also exhibit synchronized calcium events. In the present work, GnRH-1 release was assayed in mouse nasal explants using radioimmunology and its relationship with calcium signaling analyzed. GnRH-1 neurons generated episodical release as early as 3 d in vitro (div) and maintained such release throughout the period studied (3-21 div). The pulse frequency remained constant, suggesting that the pulse generator is operative at an early developmental stage. In contrast, pulse amplitude increased 2-fold between 3 and 7 div, and again between 7 and 14 div, suggesting maturation in synthesizing and/or secretory mechanisms. To evaluate these possibilities, total GnRH-1 content was measured. Only a small increase in GnRH-1 content was detected between 7 and 14 div, whereas a large increase occurred between 14 and 21 div. These data indicate that GnRH-1 content was not a limiting factor for the amplitude of the pulses at 7 div but that the secretory mechanisms mature between 3 and 14 div. The application of kisspeptin-10 revealed the ability of GnRH-1 neurons to integrate signals from natural ligands into a secretory response. Finally, simultaneous sampling of medium and calcium imaging recordings indicated that the synchronized calcium events and secretory events are congruent.
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