title: Mapping, cDNA cloning and tissue expression of the porcine thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor gene.
abstract: Thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor (TRHR) is a G-protein-coupled receptor that plays a crucial role in regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis by conveying the action of the hypothalamic tripeptide TRH, which is the primary central activator of this hormonal cascade. In the present study, the porcine TRHR (pTRHR) gene was localized to chromosome 4 by Radiation hybrid mapping. Quantitative trait loci affecting average backfat thickness, daily gain, and carcass and meat quality traits have been mapped to the region containing this gene. Further, the full-length cDNA of pTRHR was cloned and sequenced. pTRHR contains an open reading frame encoding 398 amino acids and shares 96.2% amino acid identity to human TRHR. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR showed that the mRNA of pTRHR is expressed in a variety of tissues, with high expression in the brain, hypothalamus, pituitary, testis, and fat tissue. The considerable expression level of TRHR mRNA found in fat tissue indicates potential direct action of TRH on lipocyte might exist. Additionally, two alternative spliced transcript variants of pTRHR were also isolated in this study. Our data provided basic molecular information which will be useful for further investigation on pTRHR gene.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Genetics, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhaowei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Lifan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ningying
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat; D018025:Receptors, Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013552:Swine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018025:Receptors, Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone