Thyroid Hormones Regulate Zebrafish Melanogenesis in a Gender-Specific Manner.
Zebrafish embryos are treated with anti-thyroidal compounds, such as phenylthiourea, to inhibit melanogenesis. However, the mechanism whereby the thyroidal system controls melanin synthesis has not been assessed in detail. In this work, we tested the effect of the administration of diets supplemented with T3 (500μg/g food) on the pigment pattern of adult zebrafish. Oral T3 induced a pronounced skin paling in both adult female and male zebrafish that was reversible upon cessation of treatment. The number of visible melanophores was significantly reduced in treated fish. Accordingly, treatment down-regulated expression of tyrosinase-related protein 1 in both sexes. We also found sexually dimorphic regulation of some melanogenic genes, such as Dct/Tyrp2 that was dramatically up-regulated in females after T3 treatment. Thus, we demonstrated that melanogenesis is reversibly inhibited by thyroid hormones in adult zebrafish and make the discovery of gender-specific differences in the response of melanogenic gene expression. Thus, fish gender is now shown to be an important variable that should be controlled in future studies of fish melanogenesis.
Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, (IATS-CSIC), Ribera de Cabanes, Castellón, Spain, 12595.
Raúl
R
Guillot
Facultad Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Castellón, Spain, 12006.
Borja
B
Muriach
Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, (IATS-CSIC), Ribera de Cabanes, Castellón, Spain, 12595.
Ana
A
Rocha
Aquatic Molecular Pathobiology Group, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, (IIM-CSIC), Vigo, Spain, 36208.
Josep
J
Rotllant
Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Developmental Biology Programme, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, England BA2 7AY.
Robert N
RN
Kelsh
Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, (IATS-CSIC), Ribera de Cabanes, Castellón, Spain, 12595.
José Miguel
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1405-5750
JM
Cerdá-Reverter
D000818:Animals; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008543:Melanins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008547:Melanophores / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012737:Sex Factors; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D008543:Melanins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D014284:Triiodothyronine; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C064056:tyrosinase-related protein-1