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Neuroendocrine System Notes
Neuroendocrine System Notes
Neuroendocrine System
Date: @January 21, 2022
Neuroendocrinology: control of hormone secretions by the brain and effects of
hormones on brain function
Endocrinology: control of hormone secretions by various glands in the body and its
effect of multi tissues.
Hypothalamus and pituitary gland and how the neuroendocrine system can be inhibited
or excited
Hypothalamus
Control center of endocrine system at base of the brain below the thalamus and above
the pituitary gland
posterior pituitary stores and secretes hormones that are produced by the
hypothalamus
Neuroendocrine System 1
posterior pituitary connects to the hypothalamus through terminal nerves from
hypothalamus
posterior pituitary hormones targets endocrine organs that will release other
hormones
hormones produced can only be secreted when receiving hormones from the
hypothalamus that are responsible for their regulation
Neuroendocrine System 2
Hormones released by anterior pituitary: FLATPEG
Neurohormones: any hormone produced and released by neurosecretory cells into the
blood
Neuroendocrine Activity
1. Initial stimulation - infant suckling on mothers nipple which depolarizes and
activated afferent nerves that sends synapse to hypothalamus
3. This arrives at cells of mammary glands and causes contraction to release milk
Neuroendocrine System 3
a. Example of positive feedback (positive stimulus to produce and release more
oxytocin)
1. Low thyroid levels causes hypothalamus to produce and release TRH which
stimulates anterior pituitary and releases TSH
2. This stimulates thyroid gland to produce more thyroid hormones (T3 and T4)
released into the blood, increasing metabolism
3. If thyroid hormone blood level rises, anterior pituitary and hypothalamus are
sensitive and will detect it
4. This causes negative feedback, decrease release of TRH and inhibitory effect on
anterior pituitary to produce TSH leading to decrease of production of thyroid
hormones
→ Hyperthyroidism or Hypothyroidism
Neuroendocrine System 4
2. Hypothalamic Pituitary Thyroidal (HPT axis)
c. production and secretion of thyroid hormones into the blood at thyroid gland (eg.
T3, T4)
these represent the long-loop but they all have short-loops as well
Destruction of Anterior
Low levels Low levels
Pituitary Gland
Endocrine Tumour High levels due to tumour, Low levels due to high negative
(organ) uncontrolled production feedback
Anterior Pituitary
High levels High levels due to tumour
Tumour (organ)
Neuroendocrine System 5
Techniques in Behavioural Endocrinology
IMMUNOASSAYS
analytical technique used for quantification of a hormone based on the antigen-
antibody reaction
Bioassay: test the effects of the hormone and measure its biological activity on a living
animal
🤰🏻 Pregnancy Tests
Human chorioni gonadotropin (hCG) released when women is pregnant
animal killed and size of ovaries examined to tell if the women was
pregnant or not
Neuroendocrine System 6
Antigen can be a hormone or other things and binds to specific antibody (key and
lock mechanism)
injecting hormone of interest to raise antibody against the hormone, antibody is
collected from animal blood and used in analytical techniques such as
immunoassays
human insulin in mouse, mouse will produce antibody towards insulin. This is
collected and now there is an antibody against insulin to be used in the
immunoassay
1. Antibody in a plate and the antigen that we want to measure is added and it will start
to bind
Neuroendocrine System 7
3 Types of ELISA → Direct, Indirect (one described above), Sandwich (most common)
both use antibodies to determine the location of a hormone in a specific tissue or cell
3. secondary antibody added that is conjugated with an enzyme that produces a color
by a substrate
IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION
detects specific sequences of DNA or RNA, comparison of ERG expression at RNA and
protein level
AUTORADIOGRAPHY
Radiolabeled hormones are injected into a tissue or animal to determine hormonal
uptake and indicate receptor location
Neuroendocrine System 8
1. Tissue of interest is homogenized and mixture of proteins is placed in a gel and
subjected to electrophoresis
a. electric current put through the gel, gradient of molecules separating along the
gel based on molecular weight (cathode, anode)
2. Gel is transferred for a membrane and incubated with the antibody against the
protein of interest (antibody bound to specific protein)
PHARMACOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES
use of synthetic chemical agents can alter the action or function of a hormone. 2 major
groups:
🧠 Brain Imaging
Positron Emission Tomography (PET): injection of radioactive tracers, detects
radioactivity as the compound accumulates in different regions
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI): exposes brain to multiple
magnetic fields, spatial and temporal resolution to detect changes in brain
activity during specific tasks or conditions
→ changes in bloodflow (bloodflow and oxygen)
Genetic Manipulations
Neuroendocrine System 9