Anti-Müllerian hormone: a new actor of sexual dimorphism in pituitary gonadotrope activity before puberty

• DOI: 10.1038/srep23790
• Publication Date: 2016-03-31T10:07:05Z
• Authors: Ghislaine Garrel; Chrystèle Racine; David L’Hôte; Chantal Denoyelle; Céline J. Guigon; Nathalie di Clemente; Joëlle Cohen-Tann...
• Keywords: Anti-Mullerian Hormone; Male; 0301 basic medicine; Receptors, Peptide; Hypothalamus; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gonadotrophs; Luteinizing Hormone; Article; Activins; Cell Line; Rats; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; 03 medical and health sciences; Animals, Newborn; Pituitary Gland, Anterior; Animals; Female; RNA, Messenger; Follicle Stimulating Hormone; Rats, Wistar; Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta

AbstractAnti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) contributes to male sexual differentiation and acts on gonads of both sexes. Identification of AMH receptivity in both pituitary and brain has led to the intriguing idea that AMH participates to the hypothalamic-pituitary control of reproduction, however in vivo experimental evidence is still lacking. We show that AMH stimulates secretion and pituitary gene expression of the gonadotropin FSH in vivo in rats. AMH action is sex-dependent, being restricted to females and occurring before puberty. Accordingly, we report higher levels of pituitary AMH receptor transcripts in immature females. We show that AMH is functionally coupled to the Smad pathway in LβT2 gonadotrope cells and dose-dependently increases Fshb transcript levels. Furthermore, AMH was shown to establish complex interrelations with canonical FSH regulators as it cooperates with activin to induce Fshb expression whereas it reduces BMP2 action. We report that GnRH interferes with AMH by decreasing AMH receptivity in vivo in females. Moreover, AMH specifically regulates FSH and not LH, indicating that AMH is a factor contributing to the differential regulation of gonadotropins. Overall, our study uncovers a new role for AMH in regulating gonadotrope function and suggests that AMH participates in the postnatal elevation of FSH secretion in females.