Abstract
Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurones are the final output neurones of the complex synaptic network responsible for the central control of fertility. This scattered population of neurones has been shown to have remarkably long dendritic processes by cell-filling of GnRH neurones in situ with low-molecular weight dyes. This review focuses on how the functional significance of these long dendritic extensions is being explored through dual somatic-dendritic electrophysiological recordings, computational modelling, immunolabelling for specific channels and multiple modes of microscopy and imaging. Remarkably, recent work has discovered that GnRH neurone dendrites not only actively propagate action potentials, but also comprise the primary site of action potential initiation. These findings, along with the discovery of regionalised expression of active conductances, highlight dendrites of single GnRH neurones as being central sites of signal integration. Moreover, imaging studies have shown that the long dendrites of GnRH neurones intertwine and bundle with one another. The presence of shared synaptic input to bundling dendrites, coupled with their active properties and the increased potency of distally placed synaptic inputs, is suggestive of a novel mechanism of GnRH neurone synchronisation, a feature critical for mammalian reproduction. Together, these discoveries of the GnRH neurone dendrite structure and function are changing the way that we view the central regulation of fertility.