PEI-SAN TSAI

CONTACT INFORMATION

Department of Integrative Physiology
University of Colorado
Campus Box 354
114 Clare Small
Boulder, CO 80309-0354
303-735-1877
pei-san.tsai@colorado.edu

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Zoology, 1993; University of California at Berkeley
M.A. in Zoology, 1989; University of California at Berkeley
B.S. in Zoology, 1987; Texas A&M University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES:

2006-present: Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder.
2001-present: Member, Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder.
2003-2006: Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder.
1999-2003: Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder.
1996-1999: Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
1995-1996: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physiology, University of California at Los Angeles Medical School.
1993-1995: Postdoctoral Fellow, Reproductive Endocrinology Center, University of California at San Francisco.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Function, structure, ontogeny, and phylogeny of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in vertebrates and invertebrates; developmental regulation of GnRH system by neurotrophic factors; hypothalamic regulation of pituitary hormone secretion.

PUBLICATIONS:

BK Tata, WC Chung, LR Brooks, SI Kavanaugh and P-S Tsai (2012). Fibroblast growth factor signaling deficiencies impact female reproduction and kisspeptin neurons. Biol Reprod, in press.

B Sun, SI Kavanaugh and P-S Tsai (2012). Gonadotropin-releasing hormone in protostomes: Insights from functional studies on Aplysia californica. Gen Comp Endocrinol, in press.

B Sun and P-S Tsai (2011). A gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule modulates the activity of diverse central neurons in a gastropod mollusk, Aplysia californica. Front Endocrinol 2:36.

MJ McCabe, C Gaston-Massuet, V Tziaferi, LC Gregory, KS Alatzoglou, M Signore, E Puelles, D Gerrelli, IS Farooqi, J Raza , J Walker, SI Kavanaugh, P-S Tsai, N Pitteloud, JP Martinez-Barbera and MT Dattani (2011). Novel FGF8 mutations associated with recessive holoprosencephaly, craniofacial defects, and hypothalamo-pituitary dysfunction. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 96:E1709-1718.

P-S Tsai, LR Brooks, JR Rochester, SI Kavanaugh, and WC Chung (2011). Fibroblast growth factor signaling in the developing neuroendocrine hypothalamus. Front Neuroendocrinol 32:95-107.

P-S Tsai (2011). Neuroendocrine control of reproduction in amphibians. In: Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates, Vol 2: Amphibians. Eds D.O. Norris, K.H. Lopez. pp. 21-38. Academic Press, London.

LR Brooks, WC Chung and P-S Tsai (2010). Abnormal hypothalamic oxytocin system in fibroblast growth factor 8-deficient mice. Endocr 38:174-180.

WC Chung, TA Matthews, BK Tata and P-S Tsai (2010). Compound deficiencies in multiple FGF signaling components differentially impact the murine GnRH system. J Neuroendocrinol 22:944-950.

NT Motts, WC Chung, P-S Tsai and TR Pak (2010). Differential fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF8)-mediated autoregulation of its cognate receptors, Fgfr1 and Fgfr3, in neuronal cell lines. PloS One 5:e10143.

WC Chung and P-S Tsai (2010). Role of fibroblast growth factor signaling in gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuronal system development. Front Horm Res 39:37-50.

P-S Tsai, B Sun, JR Rochester and NL Wayne (2010). Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule is not an acute reproductive activator in the gastropod, Aplysia californica. Gen Comp Endocrinol 166:280-288.

P-S Tsai and L Zhang (2008). The emergence and loss of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in protostomes: Orthology, phylogeny, structure, and function. Biol Reprod 79:798-805.

WC Chung, SS Moyle and P-S Tsai (2008). Fibroblast growth factor 8 signaling through FGF receptor 1 is required for the emergence of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons. Endocrinology 149:4997-5003.

J Falardeau, WC Chung, A Beekeen, L Plummer, Y Sidis, T Raivio, A Dwyer, S Na, J Hall, C Huot, N Alois, R Quinton, L W Cole, V Hughes, M Mohammadi, P-S Tsai and N Pitteloud (2008). Decreased FGF8 signaling causes GnRH deficiency in human and mice. J Clin Invest 118:2822-2831.

L Zhang, JA Tello, W Zhang and P-S Tsai (2008). Molecular cloning, expression pattern, and immunocytochemical localization of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule in the gastropod mollusk, Aplysia californica. Gen Comp Endocrinol 156:201-209.

L Zhang, AE Kessler and P-S Tsai (2007). Characterization and steroidal regulation of gonadotropin beta subunits in the male leopard frog, Rana pipiens. Gen Comp Endocrinol 150:66-74.

P-S Tsai (2006). Gonadotropin-releasing hormone in invertebrates: structure, function, and evolution. Gen Comp Endocrinol 148:48-53.

P-S Tsai and JC Gill (2006). Mechanism of Disease: Insights into X-linked and autosomal-dominant Kallmann Syndrome. Nature Clin Prac Endo & Metab 2:160-171.

JC Gill and P-S Tsai (2006). Expression of a dominant negative FGF receptor in developing GnRH1 neurons disrupts axon outgrowth and targeting to the median eminence. Biol Reprod 74:463-472.

P-S Tsai and JT Jones (2005). Steroid-induced changes in the morphology of GnRH neurons in the male leopard frog, Rana pipiens: Correlation with plasma gonadotropin and gonadal size. Gen Comp Endocrinol 141:152-160.

P-S Tsai, AE Kessler, JT Jones, and KB Wahr (2005). Alteration of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in estrogen- and androgen-treated adult male leopard frog, Rana pipiens. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 3:2.

P-S Tsai, SM Moenter, HR Postigo, M El Majdoubi, TR Pak, JC Gill, S Paruthiyil, S Werner, and RI Weiner (2005). Targeted expression of a dominant negative FGF receptor in GnRH neurons reduces FGF responsiveness and the size of GnRH neuronal population. Mol Endocrinol 19:225-236.

JC Gill, SM Moenter, and P-S Tsai (2004). Developmental regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons by fibroblast growth factor signaling. Endocrinology 145:3830-3839.

P-S Tsai, JB Lunden, and JT Jones (2003). Effects of steroid hormones on spermatogenesis and GnRH release in male leopard frogs, Rana pipiens. Gen Comp Endocrinol 134:330-338.

P-S Tsai, SM Moenter, and JM Cavolina (2003). Development of a novel enzyme immunoassay for the measurement of in vitro GnRH release from rat and bullfrog hypothalamic explants. Comp Biochem Physiol A: Mol Integr Physiol 136:693-700.

TR Pak, GR Lynch, and P-S Tsai (2003). Steroidal modulation of in vitro gonadotropin secretion in prepubertal and adult male Siberian hamsters. J Exp Zool 298A:53-59.

P-S Tsai, TA Maldonado, and JB Lunden (2003). Localization of gonadotropin-releasing hormone in the central nervous system and a peripheral chemosensory organ of Aplysia californica. Gen Comp Endocrinol 130:20-28.

TR Pak, GR Lynch, DM Ziegler, JB Lunden, and P-S Tsai (2003). Disruption of pubertal onset by exogenous testosterone and estrogen in two species of rodents. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 284:E206-212.

TR Pak, GR Lynch, and P-S Tsai (2002). Estrogen accelerates gonadal recrudescence in photo-regressed male Siberian hamsters. Endocrinology 143:4131-4134.

TR Pak, GR Lynch, and P-S Tsai (2002). Differential alteration of the reproductive axis by testosterone and estrogen in peripubertal and adult male Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus). Biol Reprod 67:706-711.

TR Pak, GR Lynch, and P-S Tsai (2001). Testosterone and estrogen act via different pathways to inhibit puberty in the male Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus). Endocrinology 142:3309-3316.

L Zhang, NL Wayne, NM Sherwood, HR Postigo and P-S Tsai (2000). Biological and immunological characterization of multiple GnRH in an opisthobranch mollusk, Aplysia californica. Gen Comp Endocrinolol 118:77-89.

E Vitalis, JL Costantin, P-S Tsai, H Sakakibara, S Paruthiyil, T Iiri, JF Martini, M Taga, A Choi, A Charles and RI Weiner (2000). Role of cAMP signaling pathway in the regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion in GT1 cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97:1861-1866.

P Licht, T Hayes, P-S Tsai, G Cuhna, H Kim, M Golbus, S Hayward, MC Martin, RB Jaffe and SE Glickman (1998). Androgens and masculinization of the female spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta). 1. Urogenital morphology and placental androgen production during fetal life. J Reprod Fertil 113:105-116.

P-S Tsai and RI Weiner (1997). Cell Biology of GT1 GnRH neurons. In: "GnRH Neurons: Gene to Behavior". Eds. IS Parhar and Y Sauma. pp.439-457. Brain Schuppan Publishers, Tokyo.

P-S Tsai and RI Weiner (1996). Regulation of GnRH neurons by basic fibroblast growth factor. Trends Endocrinol Metab 7:65-68.

P-S Tsai, S Werner and RI Weiner. (1995). Basic fibroblast growth factor is a neurotrophic factor in GT1 GnRH neuronal cell lines. Endocrinology 136:3831-3838.

P Licht, P-S Tsai and J Sotowska-Brochocka. (1994). Nature and distribution of gonadotropin-releasing hormones in brains and plasma of ranid frogs. Gen Comp Endocrinol 94:186-198.

P-S Tsai, TB Hayes and P Licht. (1994). Role of aromatization in testosterone-induced inhibition of LH secretion in female turtles, Trachemys scripta. Biol Reprod 50:144-151.

T Iguchi, M Edery, P-S Tsai, S Ozawa, T Sato and HA Bern. (1993). Epidermal growth factor receptor levels in reproductive organs of female mice exposed neonatally to diethylstilbestrol. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 204:110-116.

P-S Tsai and P Licht. (1993). In vivo GnRH responsiveness of LH secretion in the female turtle, Trachemys scripta, in relation to the reproductive stage. Gen Comp Endocrinol 90:328-337.

P-S Tsai and P Licht. (1993). Differential distribution of chicken I and chicken II GnRH in the turtle brain. Peptides 14:221-226.

P-S Tsai and P Licht. (1993). Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-induced desensitization of in vitro luteinizing hormone secretion in a turtle, Trachemys scripta. Gen Comp Endocrinol 89:238-247.

P-S Tsai and HA Bern. (1991). Estrogen-independent growth of mouse vaginal epithelium in organ culture. J Exp Zool 259:238-245.

P-S Tsai, FDA Uchima, ST Hamamoto and HA Bern. (1991). Proliferation and differentiation of prepubertal mouse vaginal epithelial cells in vitro and the specificity of estrogen-induced growth retardation. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol 27A:461-468.

RECENT PRESENTATIONS:

LH Jung, SI Kavanaugh, P-S Tsai. "Localization of the expression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone like-molecule in a gastropod mollusk, Aplysia californica". Inaugural Meeting of the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology, Ann Arbor, 2011.

SI Kavanaugh, P-S Tsai. "Gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor in Aplysia californica". Inaugural Meeting of the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology, Ann Arbor, 2011.

JR Rochester, P-S Tsai. "Opposite-sex cohabitation promotes the morphological maturation of GnRH neurons in transgenic animals deficient in FGF signaling". Inaugural Meeting of the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology, Ann Arbor, 2011.

W Zhang, P-S Tsai. "Gonadotropin-releasing hormone system during pubertal transition of fibroblast growth factor 8-deficience mice". Inaugural Meeting of the North American Society of Comparative Endocrinology, Ann Arbor, 2011.

RECENT FUNDING:

NSF IOS 0743818. "Functional and Structural Evolution of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone" (sole PI). 2008-2012.

NIH RO1 HD042634. "FGF regulation of GnRH neurons" (sole PI). 2009-2014.