Aleisha Moore
Biography
My laboratory is interested in defining and understanding the neuronal network regulating gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons, the final output cells controlling fertility. In particular, my work involves determining whether changes in the regulation of GnRH neurons by a population of cells that co-express the neuropeptides Kisspeptin, Neurokinin B and Dynorphin (KNDy neurons) underlies the development of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), the most common cause of infertility in individuals with ovaries. Our research explores the role of KNDy neurons in the pathogenesis of PCOS using a preclinical mouse model of the syndrome combined with a range of anatomical and functional tools that permit the study of complicated neuroendocrine networks, including viral-mediated tract-tracing, fluorescent in situ hybridization, immunolabeling, steroid hormone feedback protocols, ELISAs, chemogenetics, optogenetics, calcium imaging and electron, light sheet, confocal and miniature microscopy.
Education
Publications
- KM Dillon, DB Lohr, AG Novak, AMV Petriv, NT Neifert, AM Moore. 2024. Deletion of nuclear progesterone receptors does not impair negative feedback in female mice. Endocrinology.
- AM Moore. 2024. How to pause fertility. eLife.
- AM Moore, AG Novak, ML Lehman. 2024 KNDy neurons of the hypothalamus and their role in pulse generation: An update. Endocrinology.
- RL Goodman, AM Moore, K Onslow, SM Hileman, SL Hardy.. MN Lehman, LM Coolen 2023. Lesions of KNDy and Kiss1R neurons in the arcuate nucleus produce different effects on LH pulse patterns in female sheep. Endocrinology.
- AM Moore. GnRH pulse generation in rodents: Time to terminate the role of dynorphin? Endocrinology. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqad005.
- BB Jamieson, AM Moore, DB Lohr, SX Thomas, LM Coolen, MN Lehman, RE Campbell, R Piet. 2022. Prenatal androgen treatment impairs the suprachiasmatic nucleus arginine-vasopressin to kisspeptin neuron circuit in female mice. Frontiers in Endocrinology. do
- AM Moore. 2022. Impaired steroid hormone feedback in polycystic ovary syndrome: Evidence from preclinical models for abnormalities within central circuits controlling fertility. Clinical Endocrinology. March 29, DOI:10.1111/cen.14711
- AM Moore, LM Coolen, MN Lehman. 2022. In vivo calcium imaging of the GnRH pulse generator reveals a temporal order of activation and synchronization during each pulse. 2022. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci (PNAS). Feb 8;119(6)e2117767119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.21177
- AM Moore, DL Moore, LM Coolen, MN Lehman. 2021. Prenatal androgen exposure alters KNDy neurons and their afferent network in a mouse model of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Nov. 1 Endocrinology. doi:10.1210/endocr/bqab158
- AM Moore, LM Coolen, MN Lehman. Kisspeptin/Neurokinin B/Dynorphin (KNDy) cells as integrators of diverse internal and external cues: evidence from viral-based monosynaptic tract-tracing in mice. 2019 Oct 14. Scientific Reports, 9(1):14768. doi:10.1038/
- DT Porter, AM Moore, JA Cobern, V Padmanabhan, RL Goodman, LM Coolen, MN Lehman. Prenatal Testosterone Exposure Alters GABAergic Synaptic Inputs to GnRH and KNDy Neurons in a Sheep Model of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. 2019 Nov 1. Endocrinology, 160(11
- AM Moore, LM Coolen, DT Porter, RL Goodman, MN Lehman. KNDy Cells Revisited. 2018 Sep 1. Endocrinology, 159(9):3219-3234. doi: 10.1210/en.2018-00389.
- AM Moore, G Abbott, J Mair, RE Campbell. Mapping GABA and glutamate inputs to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone neurones in male and female mice. 2018 Nov 29. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 30 (12), e12657. doi: 10.1111/jne.12657.
- AM Moore, M Prescott, K Czieselsky, E Desroziers, SH Yip, RE Campbell, AE Herbison. 2018 Synaptic innervation of the GnRH neuron distal dendron in female mice. Endocrinology. 159(9):3200-3208. doi: 10.1210/en.2018-00505.
- MN Lehman, LM Coolen, RA Steiner, G Neal-Perry, L Wang, SM Moenter, AM Moore, R Goodman, S Hwa-Yeo, S Padilla, A Kauffman, J Garcia, M Kelly, J Clarkson, S Radovick, A Babwah, S Tellez, M Tena-Sempere, A Comninos, S Seminara, W Dhillo, J Levine, E Ter
- AM Moore, KA Lucas, LM Coolen and MN Lehman. 2018. Three-dimensional imaging of KNDy neurons in the mammalian brain using optical tissue clearing and immunocytochemistry. Scientific Reports. 8(1):2242. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20563-2.
- AM Moore and RE Campbell. 2017 Polycystic ovary syndrome: Understanding the role of the brain. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 46:1-14.
- AM Moore and RE Campbell. 2015. The neuroendocrine genesis of polycystic ovarian syndrome: A role for arcuate nucleus GABA neurons. J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol 160:106-117.
- AM Moore, M Prescott, CJ Marshall, SH Yip, RE Campbell. 2015. Enhancement of a robust arcuate GABAergic input to gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons in a mouse model of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (PNAS) U.S.A 112.2, 596-601
- AM Moore, Prescott, M. Campbell, RE. 2013. Investigating estradiol negative and positive feedback in a prenatal androgen-induced mouse model of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Endocrinology 154, 796-806.
Awards/Achievements
- NIH R01: The role of KNDy cells in a mouse model of PCOS (8/19/24 - 5/31/29, Role: PI)
- NIH K99/R00: The role of KNDy neurons in the pathogenesis of PCOS (9/4/18 - 3/31/2024, Role: PI)