Chromosomal localization of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor gene to human chromosome 4q13.1-q21.1 and mouse chromosome 5.

The gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GRHR) is a G-protein-coupled receptor on the cell surface of pituitary gonadotropes, where it serves to transduce signals from the extracellular ligand, the hypothalamic factor gonadotropin-releasing hormone, and to modulate the synthesis and secretion of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone. We have localized the GRHR gene to the q13.1-q21.1 region of the human chromosome 4 using mapping panels of human/rodent somatic cell hybrids containing different human chromosomes or different regions of human chromosome 4. Furthermore, using linkage analysis of single-strand conformational polymorphisms, the murine GRHR gene was localized to mouse chromosome 5, linked to the endogenous retroviral marker Pmv-11. This is consistent with te evolutionary conservation of homology between these two regions, as has been previously suggested from comparative mapping of several other loci. The localization of the GRHR gene may be useful in the study of disorders of reproduction.