Hormonal & reproductive

Kisspeptin-10

A 10-amino-acid fragment of the neuropeptide kisspeptin.

About

Kisspeptin-10 is the C-terminal decapeptide fragment of kisspeptin, a neuropeptide encoded by the KISS1 gene. Kisspeptin signalling was identified as an upstream regulator of reproductive endocrine function, and the discovery reframed how the onset of puberty and the control of the reproductive axis are understood.

Mechanism

The peptide is an agonist at the KISS1 receptor (formerly GPR54), expressed on gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the hypothalamus. Receptor activation is associated in the literature with GnRH release, which in turn drives luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone secretion from the pituitary. This positions kisspeptin signalling at the top of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis rather than within it.

What research has examined

Kisspeptin has been investigated in human physiological studies of the reproductive axis and in research on hypothalamic amenorrhoea and infertility.