= Gonadotropin
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A <gonadotropin> is a <hormone> that regulates development or function of the <gonads>. The pituitary examples are <follicle-stimulating hormone> and <luteinizing hormone>, released by <gonadotrophs> in the <anterior pituitary>. <Gonadotropin-releasing hormone> acts upstream to stimulate their release; its name does not make it identical to either pituitary output.<Anatomy and Physiology 2e by J. Gordon Betts and others>[§17.3, Follicle-Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone]{ref}
The two pituitary <gonadotropins> are <glycoproteins> assembled from two subunits. They share a common alpha subunit while their hormone-specific beta subunits differ.<Follicle stimulating hormone is required for ovarian follicle maturation but not male fertility by T. R. Kumar and others>[Abstract, shared alpha, specific beta and biological activity of the heterodimer]{ref}
This provides a useful specificity problem. Detecting the shared component alone would not identify which complete <hormone> was present. An informative measurement or perturbation must distinguish the relevant assembled molecule or its specific component. Classification by target action, molecular composition and measured concentration consequently addresses three related but different questions.
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