Michael GUTNICK
Professor of Neurobiology
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine
The Hebrew Universtiy of Jerusalem
Herzl 229
P.O. Box 12
Rehovot 76100, ISRAEL
Website Michael Gutnick

Program

”Interface between the nervous and endocrine systems: a gap-junction mediated functional syncytium in the fish pituitary”

In vertebrates, sporadic activity of a few hundred hypothalamic GnRH neurons can result in sustained release of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) from gonadotrophs in the pituitary. Using tilapia fish as a model organism, I will show that the LH cells in the pituitary, which have many features in common with neurons, are linked together via gap junctions. Brief exposure to GnRH acts as a trigger which sets off prolonged, synchronous oscillation of the endocrine cells, and this is associated with prolonged hormone release.

Host: Vered KELLNER

Contact for questions: Helmut KUBISTA