title: Estrogen-responsive genes in macrophages of the bony fish gilthead seabream: a transcriptomic approach.
abstract: The role of sex steroids in the modulation of fish immune responses has received little attention. Previous studies have demonstrated that 17β-estradiol (E(2)) is able to alter the response of gilthead seabream leukocytes to infectious agents. We have used suppression subtractive hybridization to identify genes upregulated by E(2) (50 ng/ml) in macrophage cultures from gilthead seabream. We isolated 393 up-regulated cDNA fragments that led to the identification of 162 candidate estrogen-responsive genes. Functional analyses revealed the presence of several enriched immune processes and molecular pathways. The E(2) up-regulation of some immune-relevant genes was further confirmed by real time RT-PCR. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the ability of E(2) to orchestrate profound alterations in the macrophage expression profile, especially immune-related processes and pathways. This is the first report on E(2)-dependent modifications of fish macrophage transcriptome and lends weight to a suggested role for estrogen in the immune system, the possible significance of which is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liarte
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chaves-Pozo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abellán
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meseguer
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mulero
authors.forename: A V M
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Canario
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Ayala
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects*; D053509:Matrix Metalloproteinase 13 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D021541:Sea Bream / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D004967:Estrogens; D029941:Fish Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D053509:Matrix Metalloproteinase 13