PUBLICATION
Zebrafish as a model for vertebrate reproduction: characterization of the first functional zebrafish (Danio rerio) gonadotropin receptor
- Authors
- Laan, M., Richmond, H., He, C., and Campbell, R.K.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-020312-3
- Date
- 2002
- Source
- General and comparative endocrinology 125(3): 349-364 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Campbell, Robert K.
- Keywords
- zebrafish GTHR-I; cDNA; tissue expression; alternative splicing; functional assay; vertebrate reproduction model
- MeSH Terms
-
- Alternative Splicing/genetics
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- COS Cells
- Cloning, Molecular
- Computational Biology
- Cyclic AMP/metabolism
- DNA, Complementary/biosynthesis
- DNA, Complementary/genetics
- Mammals
- Models, Biological
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Phylogeny
- Receptors, Gonadotropin/biosynthesis
- Receptors, Gonadotropin/genetics
- Receptors, Gonadotropin/physiology*
- Reproduction/physiology*
- Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Sexual Maturation/physiology
- Tissue Distribution
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- PubMed
- 11884080 Full text @ Gen. Comp. Endocrinol.
Citation
Laan, M., Richmond, H., He, C., and Campbell, R.K. (2002) Zebrafish as a model for vertebrate reproduction: characterization of the first functional zebrafish (Danio rerio) gonadotropin receptor. General and comparative endocrinology. 125(3):349-364.
Abstract
Vertebrate reproduction is tightly regulated by conserved glycoprotein hormones produced by the pituitary gland. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in tetrapods and gonadotropic hormone I (GTH-I) in fishes are orthologous glycoprotein hormones that control the timing of egg production and the number of eggs produced. Zebrafish, a well-established genetic model for developmental biology, also offers potential advantages for studies of reproductive toxicology, especially for modeling the impact of pollutants on fish reproductive processes. To facilitate these studies we have identified, expressed, and characterized the zebrafish GTH-I receptor. This receptor (zfGTHR-I)exhibits strong sequence similarity to the tetrapod FSH receptors and to GTHR-I from salmon and catfish. Human 293 cells transfected with zfGTHR-I exhibit increased cAMP levels after treatment with carp pituitary extracts or human FSH, but not when treated with a ligand to a related receptor (human chorionic gonadotropin). Northern blotting and RT-PCR analyses indicate that zfGTHR is expressed in ovaries from sexually mature fish, but not in immature fish. Several alternative splice variants of the receptor affecting putative exons 2--4 that encode dramatically shortened receptor fragments lacking the transmembrane domain as well as regions previously implicated in ligand binding were identified by RT-PCR. The zfGTHR-I sequence opens the way to study effects of genetic mutations or chemicals on ovarian zfGTHR-I expression and function in zebrafish.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping