Reproductive Endocrinology Laboratory Ramaley N384 Department of Integrative Physiology University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309-0354 phone: 303-735-4364

Research Interests

• The Reproductive Endocrinology Laboratory is interested in understanding how hormones from the brain and pituitary control puberty, male and female reproduction, and reproductive senescence. We are particularly interested in the function of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and the developmental regulation of neurons that produce GnRH, since developmental abnormalities in these neurons lead to absent puberty and infertility in all vertebrates including humans. Additional projects include investigating (1) the evolutionary pattern of GnRH using molluscan models, and (2) the developmental regulation of the endocrine hypothalamus.

Personnel

• Laboratory Director: Pei-San Tsai, Ph.D.


• Postdoctoral Fellows: Faye Doherty, Ph.D., Scott Kavanaugh, Ph.D., Johanna Rochester, Ph.D.


• Graduate Students: Leah Brooks, M.S., Lisa Jung, B.A., Kevin Wright, B.A., Wei Zhang, B.S.


• Professional Research Assistant: Stephanie King, B.S.


• Undergraduate Students: Madeline Basse, Courtney Enix, Tony Magno, Heide Pals, Emily Shipley.


• Collaborators: Mehul Dattani, M.D., Institute of Child Health, London, UK; Andreas Heyland, Ph.D., University of Guelph, Canada; Neil Magoski, Ph.D., Queen's University, Canada; Sue Moenter, Ph.D., University of Virginia Medical School; Toni Pak, Ph.D., Loyola University Medical School; Nelly Pitteloud, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital; Nancy Wayne, Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles Medical School; Lihong Zhang, Ph.D., Sen Yat Sen University, China.

Starting at front left-->back-->right (order in parentheses): Scott Kavanaugh (1), Lisa Jung (3), Rosemary Eppinger (4), Wilson Chung (5), Stephanie King (7), Pei-San Tsai (8; on armrest), Jo Rochester (9), Leah Brooks (10), Courtney Enix (11), Sam Rich (12), Vevian Zhang (13; on floor).

Current Research Projects

• Development of embryonic gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons.


• Functional and structural evolution of gonadotropin-releasing hormone.


• How sex steroids regulate hypothalamic, pituitary, and gonadal functions in rodents and amphibians.


• Neuroendocrine regulation of maternal behavior in rodents.

Opportunities for Undergraduates

• The requirements for undergraduate students who want a research experience in our Laboratory are:


• Junior or senior status.
• Minimum commitment of one year.
• Be able to work at least 8 hours per week.
• Either have completed or be concurrently enrolled in IPHY 3410 (Human Anatomy) or IPHY 3470/3480 (Human Physiology).
• Participate in UROP or enroll in independent study (IPHY 4860).
• Minimum GPA of 3.2.


• For more information, contact Prof. Pei-san Tsai (pei-san.tsai@colorado.edu)

Videos

Recent Publications

• Brooks LR, Chung WC, Tsai P-S. Abnormal hypothalamic oxytocin system in fibroblast growth factor 8-deficient mice. Endocrine 38: 174-180, 2010.


• Chung WC, Matthews TA, Tata BK, Tsai P-S. Compound deficiencies in multiple FGF signaling components differentially impact the murine GnRH system. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 22: 944-950, 2010.


• Chung WC, Tsai P-S. Role of fibroblast growth factor signaling in gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuronal system development. Frontiers of Hormone Research 39: 37-50, 2010.


• McCabe MF, Gaston-Massuet C, Tziaferi V, Gregory LC, Alatzoglou KS, Signore M, Puelles E, Gerrelli E, Farooqi IS, Raza J, Walker J, Kavanaugh SI, Tsai P-S, Pitteloud N, Martinez-Barbera JP, Dattani MT. Novel FGF8 mutations associated with recessive holoprosencephaly and hypothalamo-pituitary dysfunction. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 96: E1709-1718, 2011.


• Sun B, Tsai P-S. A gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule modulates the activity of diverse central neurons in a gastropod mollusk, Aplysia californica. Frontiers in Endocrinology 2: 36, 2011.


• Tsai P-S. Neuroendocrine control of reproduction in amphibians. In: Hormone and Reproduction of Vertebrates. Vol. 2: Amphibians. Eds. Norris DO, Lopez KH. London: Academic Press, pp. 21-38, 2011.


• Tsai P-S, Brooks LR, Rochester JR, Kavanaugh SI, Chung WCJ. Fibroblast growth factor signaling in the developing neuroendocrine hypothalamus. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 32: 95-107, 2011.


• Tsai P-S, Sun B, Rochester JR, Wayne NL. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule is not an acute reproductive activator in the gastropod, Aplysia californica. General and Comparative Endocrinology 166: 280-288, 2010.

Funding

• 2008-2011, NSF, "Functional and Structural Evolution of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone."


• 2009-2014, NIH, "FGF Regulation of GnRH Neurons."