title: Estradiol and testosterone modulate the tissue-specific expression of ghrelin, ghs-r, goat and nucb2 in goldfish.
abstract: Ghrelin, and nesfatin-1 (encoded by nucleobindin2/nucb2) are two metabolic peptides with multiple biological effects in vertebrates. While sex steroids are known to regulate endogenous ghrelin and NUCB2 in mammals, such actions by steroids in fish remain unknown. This study aimed to determine whether estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) affects the expression of preproghrelin, ghrelin/growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), ghrelin O-acyl transferase (GOAT) and NUCB2 in goldfish (Carassius auratus). First, a dose-response assay was performed in which fish were intraperitoneally (ip) implanted with pellets containing 25, 50 or 100 μg/g body weight (BW) of E2 or T. It was found that sex steroids (100 μg/g BW) administered for 2.5 days achieved the highest E2 or T in circulation. In a second experiment, fish were ip implanted with pellets containing 100 μg/g BW of E2, T or without hormone (control). RT-qPCR analyses at 2.5 days post-administration show that gut preproghrelin and GOAT expression was upregulated by both E2 and T treatments, while the same effect was observed for GHS-R only in the pituitary. Both treatments also reduced hypothalamic preproghrelin mRNA expression. NUCB2 expression was increased in the forebrain of T treated group and reduced in the gut and pituitary under both treatments. These results show for the first time a modulation of preproghrelin and nucb2/nesfatin-1 by sex steroids in fish. The interaction between sex steroids and genes implicated in both metabolism and reproduction might help meeting the reproduction dependent energy demands in fish.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), Intendente Marino Km 8.2, B7130IWA Chascomús, Buenos Aires, Argentina CC 164 (7130), Argentina. Electronic address: jbertucci@intech.gov.ar.
authors.forename: Juan Ignacio
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Bertucci
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiología (Fisiología Animal II), Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: ayelenmelisablanco@ucm.es.
authors.forename: Ayelén Melisa
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnológico Chascomús (IIB-INTECH), Intendente Marino Km 8.2, B7130IWA Chascomús, Buenos Aires, Argentina CC 164 (7130), Argentina. Electronic address: lcanosa@intech.gov.ar.
authors.forename: Luis Fabián
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Canosa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Integrative Neuroendocrinology, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4, Canada. Electronic address: suraj.unniappan@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Suraj
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Unniappan
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000728:Androgens / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006054:Goldfish / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054440:Receptors, Ghrelin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D004967:Estrogens; D029941:Fish Proteins; D054439:Ghrelin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054440:Receptors, Ghrelin; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D000217:Acyltransferases
keywords: Estradiol; Food intake; Ghrelin; Nesfatin-1; Reproduction; Steroids; Testosterone