title: Molecular and functional characterization of grass carp squint/nodal-related 1: a potential regulator of activin signaling in teleost pituitary cells.
abstract: Nodal, a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, plays important roles in embryogenesis in vertebrates, including fish. However, the functional characterization of the fish nodal-related gene in nonembryonic cells is still unclear. In teleost, three nodal-related genes, nodal-related (ndr)1/squint, ndr2/cyclops, and ndr3/southpaw have been reported. In this study, a full-length cDNA for grass carp squint (gcSqt) was cloned, and its transcript was detected in the selected organs, including pituitary, brain, heart, head kidney, kidney, spleen, and gonad. To further define its functional role, recombinant grass carp squint (rgcSQT) was produced in Escherichia coli in a homodimer form. Furthermore, we examined the effects of rgcSQT on activin and its receptor gene expression with the use of grass carp pituitary cell as a model. Results showed that rgcSQT stimulated the mRNA expression of activin βA and βB subunit, as well as activin receptor ActRIB and ActRIIB. These findings not only contribute to the understanding of nonembryonic functions of nodal gene in fish, but they also provide new insight into the regulation of activin signaling in vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D029404:Activin Receptors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D028341:Activins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002347:Carps / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular / Q000379:methods; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D055457:Nodal Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D055457:Nodal Protein; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D028341:Activins; D012313:RNA; D029404:Activin Receptors