A comprehensive curated resource for follicle stimulating hormone signaling

Abstract

BackgroundFollicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is an important hormone responsible for growth, maturation and function of the human reproductive system. FSH regulates the synthesis of steroid hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, proliferation and maturation of follicles in the ovary and spermatogenesis in the testes. FSH is a glycoprotein heterodimer that binds and acts through the FSH receptor, a G-protein coupled receptor. Although online pathway repositories provide information about G-protein coupled receptor mediated signal transduction, the signaling events initiated specifically by FSH are not cataloged in any public database in a detailed fashion.FindingsWe performed comprehensive curation of the published literature to identify the components of FSH signaling pathway and the molecular interactions that occur upon FSH receptor activation. Our effort yielded 64 reactions comprising 35 enzyme-substrate reactions, 11 molecular association events, 11 activation events and 7 protein translocation events that occur in response to FSH receptor activation. We also cataloged 265 genes, which were differentially expressed upon FSH stimulation in normal human reproductive tissues.ConclusionsWe anticipate that the information provided in this resource will provide better insights into the physiological role of FSH in reproductive biology, its signaling mediators and aid in further research in this area. The curated FSH pathway data is freely available through NetPath (http://www.netpath.org), a pathway resource developed previously by our group.

Identification of new single nucleotide polymorphisms affecting total number born and candidate genes related to ovulation rate in Chinese Erhualian pigs

“…RPS6KB1 is involved in the FSH signaling pathway (Telikicherla et al . ). It has been shown that FSH was elevated in high‐ vs. low‐ovulating females during the pro‐ and peri‐estrous periods in pigs (Knox et al .…”

Schistosoma mansoni treatment reduces HIV entry into cervical CD4+ T cells and induces IFN-I pathways

“…This is unlikely related to differences in the menstrual cycle stage between baseline and follow up visits, since we carefully scheduled all study visits to occur at the same stage of the menstrual cycle. While we cannot definitively rule out a direct effect of Sm treatment on FSH levels, this pathway shares several of its signaling components with other pathways, and in particular with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway 46 . In the current study, Sm treatment was also associated with down-regulation of the mTOR pathway (Fig.…”

Integrated mRNA and miRNA expression profile analyses reveal the potential roles of sex‐biased miRNA–mRNA pairs in gonad tissues of the Chinese concave‐eared torrent frog (Odorrana tormota)

“…The ovarian steroids, 17β‐estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4), are critical for promoting and maintaining follicle growth, differentiation, maturation and release of a viable oocyte, and formation and regression of the corpus luteum (Chryssikopoulos, ; Mahesh & Brann, ). Ovarian steroidogenesis occurs according to the two‐cell/two‐gonadotropin theory in humans and mice (Telikicherla et al, ). This theory describes how granulosa and theca cells work together to make the ovarian steroids and then induce the maturation of oocytes.…”