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.


• Graduate Students: Leah Brooks, M.S., Joshua Johnson, B.A., Lisa Jung, B.A., Sarah Ramelli, B.S., Kevin Wright, B.A.


• Undergraduate Students: Graham Ives, Ann Miller, Heide Pals, Rachel Woolaver.


• 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., Sun 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, Le CDV, Chung WC, Tsai P-S. Maternal behavior in transgenic mice with reduced fibroblast growth factor receptor function in gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons. Behavioral and Brain Functions 8: 47, 2012.


• Rochester JR, Chung WC, Hayes TB, Tsai P-S. Opposite-sex housing reactivates the declining GnRH system in aged transgenic mice with FGF signaling deficiency. American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology & Metabolism 303: E1428-E1439, 2012.


• Sun B, Kavanaugh SI, Tsai P-S. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone in protostomes:  Insights from functional studies on Aplysia californica. General and Comparative Endocrinology 176: 321-326, 2012.


• 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, 1-8, 2011.


• Tata BK, Chung WC, Brooks LR, Kavanaugh SI, Tsai P-S. Fibroblast growth factor signaling deficiencies impact female reproduction and kisspeptin neurons. Biology of Reproduction 86: 119, 1-7, 2012.

Funding

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


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