The timing of puberty is controlled by many genes. The elements coordinating this process have not, however, been identified. Here we show that an epigenetic mechanism of transcriptional repression times the initiation of female puberty in rats. We identify silencers of the Polycomb group (PcG) as major contributors to this mechanism, and show that PcG proteins repress Kiss1, a puberty-activating gene. Hypothalamic expression of two key PcG genes, Eed and Cbx7, decreases and methylation of their promoters increases preceding puberty. Inhibiting DNA methylation blocks both events and results in pubertal failure. The pubertal increase in Kiss1 is accompanied by EED loss from the Kiss1 promoter and enrichment of histone H3 modifications associated with gene activation. Preventing the eviction of EED from the Kiss1 promoter disrupts pulsatile GnRH release, delays puberty, and compromises fecundity. Our results identify epigenetic silencing as a novel mechanism underlying the neuroendocrine control of female puberty.

We investigated the role of histone methyltransferase Ezh2 in tangential migration of mouse precerebellar pontine nuclei, the main relay between neocortex and cerebellum. By counteracting the sonic hedgehog pathway, Ezh2 represses Netrin1 in dorsal hindbrain allowing normal pontine neuron migration. In Ezh2 mutants, ectopic Netrin1 derepression results in abnormal migration and supernumerary nuclei integrating brain circuitry. Moreover, intrinsic topographic organization of pontine nuclei according to rostrocaudal progenitor origin is maintained throughout migration and correlates with patterned cortical input. Ezh2 maintains spatially-restricted Hox expression which in turn regulates differential expression of the repulsive receptor Unc5b in migrating neurons, generating subsets with distinct responsiveness to environmental Netrin1. Thus, Ezh2-dependent epigenetic regulation of intrinsic and extrinsic transcriptional programs controls topographic neuronal guidance and connectivity in the cortico-ponto-cerebellar pathway.

Kisspeptin, the product of the KiSS1 gene, has emerged as a key component of the mechanism by which the hypothalamus controls puberty and reproductive development. It does so by stimulating the secretion of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). Little is known about the transcriptional control of the KiSS1 gene. Here we show that a set of proteins postulated to be upstream components of a hypothalamic network involved in controlling female puberty regulates KiSS1 transcriptional activity. Using RACE-PCR we determined that transcription of KiSS1 mRNA is initiated at a single transcription start site (TSS) located 153–156 bp upstream of the ATG translation initiation codon. Promoter assays performed using 293 MSR cells showed that the KiSS1 promoter is activated by TTF1 and CUX1-p200, and repressed by EAP1, YY1, and CUX1-p110. EAP1 and CUX-110 were also repressive in GT1-7 cells. All four TFs are recruited in vivo to the KiSS1 promoter and are expressed in kisspeptin neurons. These results suggest that expression of the KiSS1 gene is regulated by trans-activators and repressors involved in the system-wide control of mammalian puberty.