Kisspeptin signaling in astrocytes modulates the reproductive axis
Encarnacion Torres, Giuliana Pellegrino, Melissa Granados-Rodríguez, Antonio C. Fuentes-Fayos, Inmaculada Velasco, Adrian Coutteau-Robles, Amandine Legrand, Marya Shanabrough, Cecilia Perdices-Lopez, Silvia Leon, Shel H. Yeo, Stephen M. Manchishi, Maria J. Sánchez-Tapia, Victor M. Navarro, Rafael Pineda, Juan Roa, Frederick Naftolin, Jesús Argente, Raúl M. Luque, Julie A. Chowen, Tamas L. Horvath, Vincent Prevot, Ariane Sharif, William H. Colledge, Manuel Tena-Sempere, Antonio Romero-Ruiz
Encarnacion Torres, Giuliana Pellegrino, Melissa Granados-Rodríguez, Antonio C. Fuentes-Fayos, Inmaculada Velasco, Adrian Coutteau-Robles, Amandine Legrand, Marya Shanabrough, Cecilia Perdices-Lopez, Silvia Leon, Shel H. Yeo, Stephen M. Manchishi, Maria J. Sánchez-Tapia, Victor M. Navarro, Rafael Pineda, Juan Roa, Frederick Naftolin, Jesús Argente, Raúl M. Luque, Julie A. Chowen, Tamas L. Horvath, Vincent Prevot, Ariane Sharif, William H. Colledge, Manuel Tena-Sempere, Antonio Romero-Ruiz
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Research Article Endocrinology Reproductive biology

Kisspeptin signaling in astrocytes modulates the reproductive axis

Abstract

Reproduction is safeguarded by multiple, often cooperative, regulatory networks. Kisspeptin signaling, via KISS1R, plays a fundamental role in reproductive control, primarily by regulation of hypothalamic GnRH neurons. We disclose herein a pathway for direct kisspeptin actions in astrocytes that contributes to central reproductive modulation. Protein-protein interaction and ontology analyses of hypothalamic proteomic profiles after kisspeptin stimulation revealed that glial/astrocyte markers are regulated by kisspeptin in mice. This glial-kisspeptin pathway was validated by the demonstrated expression of Kiss1r in mouse astrocytes in vivo and astrocyte cultures from humans, rats, and mice, where kisspeptin activated canonical intracellular signaling-pathways. Cellular coexpression of Kiss1r with the astrocyte markers GFAP and S100-β occurred in different brain regions, with higher percentage in Kiss1- and GnRH-enriched areas. Conditional ablation of Kiss1r in GFAP-positive cells in the G-KiR-KO mouse altered gene expression of key factors in PGE2 synthesis in astrocytes and perturbed astrocyte-GnRH neuronal appositions, as well as LH responses to kisspeptin and LH pulsatility, as surrogate marker of GnRH secretion. G-KiR-KO mice also displayed changes in reproductive responses to metabolic stress induced by high-fat diet, affecting female pubertal onset, estrous cyclicity, and LH-secretory profiles. Our data unveil a nonneuronal pathway for kisspeptin actions in astrocytes, which cooperates in fine-tuning the reproductive axis and its responses to metabolic stress.

Authors

Encarnacion Torres, Giuliana Pellegrino, Melissa Granados-Rodríguez, Antonio C. Fuentes-Fayos, Inmaculada Velasco, Adrian Coutteau-Robles, Amandine Legrand, Marya Shanabrough, Cecilia Perdices-Lopez, Silvia Leon, Shel H. Yeo, Stephen M. Manchishi, Maria J. Sánchez-Tapia, Victor M. Navarro, Rafael Pineda, Juan Roa, Frederick Naftolin, Jesús Argente, Raúl M. Luque, Julie A. Chowen, Tamas L. Horvath, Vincent Prevot, Ariane Sharif, William H. Colledge, Manuel Tena-Sempere, Antonio Romero-Ruiz

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Figure 1

Identification of kisspeptin targets in POA by proteomic analysis.

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Identification of kisspeptin targets in POA by proteomic analysis. (A) S...
(A) Scheme of experimental design to identify new targets of kisspeptin actions in adult Kiss1-KO male mice (n = 6 per group), using SWATH-MS method. (B) High throughput data (77 differentially expressed proteins found) were analyzed via STRING to build functional protein association networks (the 3 main clusters circled correspond to GO terms). Analyses were also implemented by (C) enrichment analyses in GO categories such as biological process visualized by Cytoscape platform and (D) cellular components using ggplot2 R package (cut-off r > 0.800). (E) box-plots represent the intensity of GFAP, APP and MT3 proteins from SWATH-MS raw data. Data are the mean ± SEM. Statistical significance was determined by Student’s t test: *P < 0.05 versus corresponding values in adult Kiss1-KO mice treated with vehicle (Veh). (F) 2D-DIGE map (left panel) and pie chart (right panel) presenting the GO of enriched proteins from an independent validation of Kp-10 effects on Kiss1 KO mice. Red circles highlight differential protein expression in POA from Kiss1-KO mice after Kp-10 injection (n = 3) versus vehicle-treated mice (n = 3). Spots were identified by MALDI-MS/MS.