Work in the Herbison Laboratory is focussed upon understanding the properties and functioning of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons. These neurons are responsible for the initiation of puberty and the subsequent maintenance of reproductive function in adult males and females. We are particularly interested in defining:

The research in the laboratory relies heavily upon transgenic mouse models. Mice in which GnRH gene regulatory sequences drive the expression of reporter molecules, such as LacZ, GFP, Cre recombinase and calcium-sensing molecules, have been developed and are used in combination with global gene knockout lines for:

electrophysiological and calcium imaging analyses,

morphological and ulstrastructural investigations using conventional light, confocal and electron microscopy

profiling gene expression within GnRH neurons with single cell microarray and RT-PCR approaches

examining the roles of specific molecules expressed by GnRH neurons using Cre/LoxP-mediated conditonal knockout strategies in vivo.