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Gonadotropin
 
 
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Human Menopausal Gonadotropins are protein
Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
 hormone
Hormone

Hormones are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism....
s secreted by gonadotrope cells of the pituitary gland
Pituitary gland

The pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g . It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and rests in a small, bony cavity covered by a Dura mater fold ....
 of vertebrate
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
s.

Gonadotropin is sometimes abbreviated Gn. The British spelling is gonadotrophin.

two principal gonadotropins are luteinizing hormone
Luteinizing hormone

Luteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.* In the female, an acute rise of LH ? the LH surge ? triggers ovulation....
 (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Both hormones consist of two peptide
Peptide

Peptides are short polymers formed from the linking, in a defined order, of a-amino acids. The link between one amino acid residue and the next is known as an amide chemical bond or a peptide bond....
 chains, an alpha chain and a beta chain, linked by Hydrogen bonds and van der Waals
Van der Waals

Van der Waals may refer to:* Fransje van der Waals* Johannes Diderik van der Waals* Van der Waals force* Van der Waals equation* Van der Waals radius...
 forces.






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Human Menopausal Gonadotropins are protein
Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
 hormone
Hormone

Hormones are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism....
s secreted by gonadotrope cells of the pituitary gland
Pituitary gland

The pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g . It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and rests in a small, bony cavity covered by a Dura mater fold ....
 of vertebrate
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
s.

Gonadotropin is sometimes abbreviated Gn. The British spelling is gonadotrophin.

Types

The two principal gonadotropins are luteinizing hormone
Luteinizing hormone

Luteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.* In the female, an acute rise of LH ? the LH surge ? triggers ovulation....
 (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Both hormones consist of two peptide
Peptide

Peptides are short polymers formed from the linking, in a defined order, of a-amino acids. The link between one amino acid residue and the next is known as an amide chemical bond or a peptide bond....
 chains, an alpha chain and a beta chain, linked by Hydrogen bonds and van der Waals
Van der Waals

Van der Waals may refer to:* Fransje van der Waals* Johannes Diderik van der Waals* Van der Waals force* Van der Waals equation* Van der Waals radius...
 forces. LH and FSH share nearly identical alpha chains, while the beta chain provides specificity for receptor
Receptor (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a receptor is a protein molecule, embedded in either the plasma membrane or cytoplasm of a cell, to which a mobile signaling molecule may attach....
 interactions.

A third human gonadotropin is human chorionic gonadotropin
Human chorionic gonadotropin

Human chorionic gonadotropin is a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnancy that is made by the the developing embryo soon after Conception and later by the syncytiotrophoblast ....
 (hCG), produced by the placenta
Placenta

The placenta or afterbirth is a highly vascularized ephemeral organ present in Placentalia vertebrates that connects the developing fetal tissues to the uterine wall....
 during pregnancy
Pregnancy

Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, inside the uterus of a female. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or Multiple birth....
.

Mechanism

Gonadotropin receptors are embedded in the surface of the target cell membrane
Cell membrane

The cell membrane is the interface between the cellular machinery inside the cell and the fluid outside.It is a semipermeable lipid bilayer found in all cell ....
s and coupled to the G-protein system. Signals triggered by binding to the receptor are relayed within the cells by the cyclic AMP second messenger system.

Gonadotropins are released under the control of gonadotropin-releasing hormone
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone , also known as Luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone , is a tropic hormone peptide hormone responsible for the release of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone from the anterior pituitary....
 (GnRH) from the arcuate nucleus and preoptic area of the hypothalamus
Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland ....
. The gonad
Gonad

The gonad is the organ that makes gametes. The gonads in males are the testes and the gonads in females are the ovaries. The product, gametes, are haploid germ cells....
s — testes and ovaries
Ovary

The ovary is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Ovaries in females are homology to testicle in males, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands....
 — are the primary target organs for LH
Luteinizing hormone

Luteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.* In the female, an acute rise of LH ? the LH surge ? triggers ovulation....
 and FSH
Follicle-stimulating hormone

Follicle-stimulating hormone is a hormone synthesized and secreted by gonadotropes in the anterior pituitary gland. FSH regulates the development, growth, pubertal maturation, and reproductive processes of the human body....
. The gonadotropins affect multiple cell types and elicit multiple responses from the target organs. As a simplified generalization, LH
Luteinizing hormone

Luteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.* In the female, an acute rise of LH ? the LH surge ? triggers ovulation....
 stimulates the Leydig cells of the testes and the theca cells of the ovaries to produce testosterone
Testosterone

Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testis of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands....
 (and indirectly estradiol
Estradiol

Estradiol is a sex hormone. Mislabelled the "female" hormone, it is also present in males; it represents the major estrogen in humans. Estradiol has not only a critical impact on reproductive and sexual functioning, but also affects other organs including bone structure....
), while FSH
Follicle-stimulating hormone

Follicle-stimulating hormone is a hormone synthesized and secreted by gonadotropes in the anterior pituitary gland. FSH regulates the development, growth, pubertal maturation, and reproductive processes of the human body....
 stimulates the spermatogenic tissue of the testes and the granulosa cell
Granulosa cell

A granulosa cell is a somatic cell of the sex cord that is closely associated with the developing female gamete in the ovary of mammals....
s of ovarian follicle
Ovarian follicle

Ovarian follicle is the basic unit of female reproductive biology and is composed of roughly spherical aggregations of cell s found in the ovary....
s.

Diseases

Gonadotropin deficiency due to pituitary disease results in hypogonadism
Hypogonadism

Hypogonadism is a medical term for a defect of the reproductive system that results in lack of function of the gonads . The gonads have two functions: to produce hormones , activin and to produce gametes ....
, which can lead to infertility
Infertility

Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to fertilization. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term....
. Treatment include administered gonadotropins, which therefore work as fertility medication
Fertility medication

Fertility medication is a drug that enhances fertility. For women, fertility medication is used to stimulate ovarian follicle development of the ovary....
. Such can either be produced by extraction and purification from urine or it can be produced by recombinant DNA
Recombinant DNA

Recombinant DNA is a form of synthetic DNA thereby combining DNA sequences that would not normally occur together. In terms of genetic modification, recombinant DNA is produced through the addition of relevant DNA into an existing organismal genome, such as the plasmid of bacteria, to code for or alter different traits for a specific purpos...
.

Failure or loss of the gonads usually results in elevated levels of LH and FSH in the blood.

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