title: Sequential up-regulation of thyroid hormone beta receptor, ornithine transcarbamylase, and carbamyl phosphate synthetase mRNAs in the liver of Rana catesbeiana tadpoles during spontaneous and thyroid hormone-induced metamorphosis.
abstract: During both spontaneous and thyroid hormone (TH)-induced metamorphosis, the Rana catesbeiana tadpole undergoes postembryonic developmental changes in its liver which are necessary for its transition from an ammonotelic larva to a ureotelic adult. Although this transition ultimately results from marked increases in the activities and/or de novo synthesis of the urea cycle enzymes, the precise molecular means by which TH exerts this tissue-specific response are presently unknown. Recent reports, using RNA from whole Xenopus laevis tadpole homogenates and indirect means of measuring TH receptor (TR) mRNAs, suggest a correlation between the up-regulation of TR beta-mRNAs and the general morphological changes occurring during amphibian metamorphosis. To assess whether or not this same relationship exists in a TH-responsive tissue, such as liver, we isolated and characterized a cDNA clone containing the complete nucleotide sequence for a R. catesbeiana urea cycle enzyme, ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), as well as a genomic clone containing a portion of the hormone-binding domain of a R. catesbeiana TR beta gene. Through use of these homologous sequences and a heterologous cDNA fragment encoding rat carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), we directly determined the relative levels of the TR beta, OTC, and CPS mRNAs in liver from spontaneous and TH-induced tadpoles. Our results establish that TH affects an up-regulation of mRNAs for its own receptor prior to up-regulating CPS and OTC mRNAs. Moreover, results with cultured tadpole liver demonstrate that TH, in the absence of any other hormonal influence, can affect an up-regulation of both the TR beta and OTC mRNAs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Helbing
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gergely
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Atkinson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002222:Carbamoyl-Phosphate Synthase (Ammonia) / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D009954:Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011892:Rana catesbeiana / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D011988:Receptors, Thyroid Hormone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000502:physiology; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011988:Receptors, Thyroid Hormone; D014284:Triiodothyronine; D009954:Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase; D002222:Carbamoyl-Phosphate Synthase (Ammonia)