Impaired LH surge amplitude in gonadotrope-specific progesterone receptor knockout mice

in Journal of Endocrinology
Authors:
Chirine Toufaily Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

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Gauthier Schang Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

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Xiang Zhou Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

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Philipp Wartenberg Department of Experimental Pharmacology, Center for Molecular Signaling, Saarland University School of Medicine, Homburg, Germany

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Ulrich Boehm Department of Experimental Pharmacology, Center for Molecular Signaling, Saarland University School of Medicine, Homburg, Germany

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John P Lydon Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

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Ferdinand Roelfsema Department of Internal Medicine, Section Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

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Daniel J Bernard Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

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Correspondence should be addressed to D J Bernard: daniel.bernard@mcgill.ca

*(C Toufaily and G Schang contributed equally to this work)

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-19-0013
Volume/Issue:
Volume 244: Issue 1
Article Type:
Research Article
Page Range:
111–122
Online Publication Date:
Jan 2020
Copyright:
© 2020 Society for Endocrinology 2020
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The progesterone receptor (PR, encoded by Pgr) plays essential roles in reproduction. Female mice lacking the PR are infertile, due to the loss of the protein’s functions in the brain, ovary, and uterus. PR is also expressed in pituitary gonadotrope cells, but its specific role therein has not been assessed in vivo. We therefore generated gonadotrope-specific Pgr conditional knockout mice (cKO) using the Cre-LoxP system. Overall, both female and male cKO mice appeared phenotypically normal. cKO females displayed regular estrous cycles (vaginal cytology) and normal fertility (litter size and frequency). Reproductive organ weights were comparable between wild-type and cKO mice of both sexes, as were production and secretion of the gonadotropins, LH and FSH, with one exception. On the afternoon of proestrus, the amplitude of the LH surge was blunted in cKO females relative to controls. Contrary to predictions of earlier models, this did not appear to derive from impaired GnRH self-priming. Collectively, these data indicate that PR function in gonadotropes may be limited to regulation of LH surge amplitude in female mice via a currently unknown mechanism.

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Print ISSN:
0022-0795
Online ISSN:
1479-6805
Copyright:
© 2020 Society for Endocrinology 2020
Page(s):
12
Article Type:
Research Article
Received Date:
17 Sep 2019
Accepted Date:
04 Oct 2019
Print Publication Date:
01 Jan 2020
Online Publication Date:
Jan 2020
Keywords:
progesterone receptor; LH; FSH; gonadotropes

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