title: Cloning and expression of two proopiomelanocortin mRNAs in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.).
abstract: Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is the precursor for a number of biologically active peptides such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and beta-endorphin. It is well known that these peptides are involved in the stress response in fish as well as in mammals. We have cloned two different carp POMC cDNAs called, POMC-I and POMC-II. The nucleotide sequences of 955 bp for POMC-I and 959 bp for POMC-II share 93.5% identity in their cDNAs, and the deduced amino acid sequences (both 222 amino acids) are 91.4% identical. In the ACTH and beta-MSH domain, two amino acid substitutions are found, whereas alpha-MSH and beta-endorphin are identical. For beta-MSH, the serine replacement (in POMC-I) by a glycine (in POMC-II) results in a putative amidation site Pro-X-Gly for POMC-II. We used RT-PCR to show that both POMC mRNAs are expressed in the hypophysis, hypothalamus and other parts of the brain of a single fish. Furthermore, in a phylogenetic tree based on POMC sequences the divergence of carp POMC-I and -II from tetraploid animals (salmon, trout and xenopus) is demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. rarends@sci.kun.nl
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Arends
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vermeer
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Martens
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leunissen
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Wendelaar Bonga
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flik
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002347:Carps; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017421:Sequence Analysis
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin