title: Retinol binding protein in rainbow trout: molecular properties and mRNA expression in tissues.
abstract: Retinoids are important regulatory signaling molecules during embryonic development. The molecular properties of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) retinol-binding protein (rtRBP), the specific retinol carrier in vertebrate plasma, were studied to elucidate its role in transporting retinols to developing fish oocytes. A 954-nucleotide rtRBP cDNA was cloned from the liver coding for a 176-amino-acid (aa) mature protein, with an estimated molecular mass of 20,267 Da. The nucleotide sequence suggests a putative 16-aa signal peptide and shows all the aa residues that were previously identified as critical for the retinol binding pocket. Five of the eight amino acid residues that are associated with the interaction of RBP and transthyretin in mammalian and non-mammalian species are conserved. The deduced aa sequence of rtRBP shows 60-66% identity with zebrafish, chicken, mouse, rat, horse, bovine, and human RBPs and 56% identity with Xenopus RBP. Northern blot analysis revealed a approximately 1.1-kb hepatic mRNA transcript. RBP is highly expressed in the liver, but low levels were also detected in the spleen, kidney, ovary, and brain. In the rainbow trout, 17beta-estradiol treatment led to a decrease in the RBP mRNA signal relative to that of the controls. The efficacy of the 17beta-estradiol treatment was verified by an induction of vitellogenin (VTG) mRNA expression in the liver and occurrence of VTG in the plasma.
authors.affiliation: Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sammar
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Babin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durliat
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Meiri
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zchori
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elizur
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lubzens
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D015870:Gene Expression; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D054839:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins; D054839:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma; D004958:Estradiol