title: Identification of sea lamprey GTHbeta-like cDNA and its evolutionary implications.
abstract: We have identified the first and perhaps only gonadotropin beta-like protein by cDNA cloning in sea lamprey, a member of the oldest lineage of vertebrates, the agnathans. Two pituitary gonadotropins (GTHs: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH)) have been identified in representative species of all classes of vertebrates except the agnathans. The present study was undertaken to identify GTH in sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, to gain a further understanding of the origin and evolution of reproductive pituitary hormones and their respective genes in vertebrates. Sea lamprey preGTHbeta-like cDNA was cloned from a plasmid cDNA library using an expressed sequence tag analysis. The preGTHbeta-like cDNA encoded 150 amino acids, in which the GTHbeta-like protein consisted of 134 amino acid residues. Sea lamprey GTHbeta-like protein contained 12 Cys residues and two N-glycosylation sites at homologous positions to those of FSHbeta and LHbeta. The region of the molecule that has been proposed to control receptor binding specificity (i.e., the region between the 10th and 12th Cys residues) suggests that the proposed heterodimer would be more like a FSH than a LH. Sea lamprey GTHbeta-like protein-producing cells were identified immunocytochemically in the ventral part of the proximal pars distalis of pituitary using antiserum prepared against a synthetic peptide of preGTHbeta-like protein (52-68). Intraperitoneal administration of sea lamprey GnRH-I and -III at 100 microg/g body weight (twice at a 24h interval) increased expression of GTHbeta-like protein in the pituitary of adult female sea lamprey during the final maturational period. Thus, these results are the first to demonstrate the presence of a single GTH-like system in lampreys. Because the sea lamprey GTHbeta-like protein is a clear out-group compared to those of the LH and FSH family based on phylogenic analysis, we propose that an ancestral glycoprotein hormone gave rise to only one GTH in lampreys and to the glycoprotein hormone family that gave rise to LH, FSH, and TSH during the early evolution of gnathostomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. sasower@cisunix.unh.edu
authors.forename: Stacia A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sower
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moriyama
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.forename: Akiyoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nozaki
authors.forename: Katsuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dahlstrom
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawauchi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D006065:Gonadotropins, Pituitary / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D048428:Petromyzon / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006065:Gonadotropins, Pituitary; D012322:RNA Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone