title: Distribution of pepsinogen- and ghrelin-producing cells in the digestive tract of Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) during metamorphosis and the adult stage.
abstract: Pepsinogen is the precursor form of the gastric-specific digestive enzyme, pepsin. Ghrelin is a representative gastric hormone with multiple functions in vertebrates, including the regulation of growth hormone release, stimulation of food intake and gastrointestinal motility function. We investigated chronological changes in the distribution of pepsinogen-expressing cells by in situ hybridization and ghrelin-immunoreactive cells by immunohistochemistry in the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) during metamorphosis from the leptocephalus sage to the elver stage. The ghrelin-producing cells first appeared in the gastric cecum and pyloric portion of the stomach in the late phase of metamorphosing leptocephali, whereas the pepsinogen-producing cells were first detected in the early phase of the glass-eel stage. These suggest that endocrine cells differentiated earlier than exocrine cells in the eel stomach. Accompanying eel development, the distribution of ghrelin-producing cells spread to the esophagus and other regions of the stomach, but not to the intestine. These results may be related to the changes in dietary habits during metamorphosis in the Japanese eel.
authors.affiliation: Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 3-27-5, Shinhama, Shiogama, Miyagi 985-0001, Japan. kurokawa@fra.affrc.go.jp
authors.forename: Tadahide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurokawa
authors.forename: Miei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koshio
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaiya
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Kazuharu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uji
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Awaji
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gen
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000811:Anguilla / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological; D020116:Pepsinogen A / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029941:Fish Proteins; D054439:Ghrelin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D020116:Pepsinogen A