Neuroendocrine control of the onset of puberty

•KISS1 is a GnRH pulse generating gene not a puberty gene!•New ideas on the molecular bases for the control of the delay and onset of puberty.•Models for the developmental control of the hypothalamic GnRH pulse generator.

This chapter is based on the Geoffrey Harris Memorial Lecture presented at the 8th International Congress of Neuroendocrinology, which was held in Sydney, August 2014. It provides the development of our understanding of the neuroendocrine control of puberty since Harris proposed in his 1955 monograph (Harris, 1955) that “a major factor responsible for puberty is an increased rate of release of pituitary gonadotrophin” and posited “that a neural (hypothalamic) stimulus, via the hypophysial portal vessels, may be involved.” Emphasis is placed on the neurobiological mechanisms governing puberty in highly evolved primates, although an attempt is made to reverse translate a model for the timing of puberty in man and monkey to non-primate species.

Graphical abstractA model for the control of pulsatile gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH, red) release from the hypothalamus of highly evolved primates during postnatal development, and therefore for the timing of puberty in these species. See Fig. 6 for details.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide