Neuronal plasticity at puberty in hypothalamic neurons controlling fertility in female mice

Puberty is a critical transition period to achieve fertility and reproductive capacity in all mammalian species. At puberty, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) is activated by neuroendocrine changes in the brain. Central to this are Kiss1 neurons that produce kisspeptin, a neuropeptide which is a potent stimulator of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion. Kiss1 neurons in the arcuate region of the hypothalamus (Kiss1ARC) increase pulsatile secretion of GnRH at puberty. Other developmental maturational changes in the brain are often accompanied by neuronal plasticity changes but this has not been studied in Kiss1 neurons. Electrophysiological characterisation of Kiss1ARC neurons from female mice shows that these neurons undergo profound intrinsic plasticity at puberty with a critical window between 3 and 4 weeks. Immature Kiss1ARC neurons cannot sustain depolarisation-evoked firing for even 500 ms and instead fire a brief burst of high frequency spikes before falling silent. This would make them unsuitable for the sustained activity that is needed to activate GnRH neurons and trigger LH secretion in the HPG axis. After puberty, sustained firing can be maintained, which endows post-puberty Kiss1ARC neurons with a mature physiological phenotype that is amenable to neuropeptide modulation for generation of burst firing and pulsatile release of kisspeptin. There is a corresponding decrease in the threshold for action potential initiation, a more hyperpolarised post-spike trough and a larger medium after-hyperpolarisation (mAHP). Gene expression analysis showed a significant decrease in Scn2a (Nav1.2 channel), Kcnq2 (Kv7.2 channel) and Lrrc55 (BK channel auxiliary {gamma}3-subunit) expression and an increase in Hcn1 (hyperpolarization activated cyclic nucleotide-gated potassium channel) expression which may contribute to the observed electrophysiological changes. Ovariectomy and {beta}-estradiol replacement defined a window of estrogen-dependent plasticity of action potential firing at puberty, such that post-puberty Kiss1ARC neurons achieve a mature physiological phenotype for activation of the HPG axis.