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. 2014 May 8;124(6):2550–2559. doi: 10.1172/JCI65928

Figure 2. The blockade of nNOS blunts leptin’s ability to induce LH release.

Figure 2

(A) nNOS activity is required for leptin-induced LH release, independently of kisspeptin/GPR54 signaling. (B) The pharmacological inhibition of nNOS, specifically within the preoptic region (POA), is sufficient to block leptin-induced LH release. The diagram and the corresponding photomicrograph show the target site into which l-NAME was stereotaxically infused in the preoptic region, in which GnRH (green dots) and nNOS (red dots) neuronal cell bodies are intermingled. ac, anterior commissure. The asterisk in the image indicates the trajectory of the implanted needle. Scale bar: 500 μm. (C) Schematic representation of the hypothetical mechanisms of regulation of LH secretion in the absence (top panel) or presence (bottom panel) of exogenous leptin treatment in diestrus mice (see Supplemental Figure 2 for mathematical modeling). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.