Mechanism[edit]
Releasing hormones increase (or, in case of inhibitory factors, decrease) the intracellular concentration of calcium (Ca2+), resulting in vesicle fusion of the respective primary hormone.
For GnRH, TRH and GHRH the increase in Ca2+ is achieved by the releasing hormone coupling and activating G protein coupled receptors coupled to the Gq alpha subunit, activating the IP3/DAG pathway to increase Ca2+.[1] For GHRH, however, this is a minor pathway, the main one being the cAMP dependent pathway. [2]
Notable researchers[edit]
Roger Guillemin and Andrew W. Schally were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1977 for their contributions to understanding "the peptide hormone production of the brain"; these scientists independently first isolated TRH and GnRH and then identified their structures.[3]