Search Results

ABSTRACT

We have cloned a full length cDNA coding for the activin type IIB receptor (GactRIIB) from the goldfish ovary. GactRIIB shares 73 and 70% amino acid identity in the extracellular domain, and 78 and 80% identity in the intracellular domain with the type IIB receptors of the mouse and Xenopus respectively. The intracellular domain of GactRIIB contains two serine kinase consensus sequences, DFKSRN and GTRRYMAPE, in agreement with the reports in other vertebrates that serine/threonine phosphorylation is involved in activin signal transduction. The identity of GactRIIB was confirmed by transient expression in the COS cells followed by activin binding. Iodinated human activin A bound to the GactRIIB-transfected cells and the binding could be completely inhibited by unlabeled activin. Affinity labeling revealed a band of about 85 kDa, which is in agreement with the reported type II receptors in other vertebrates. Together with the fact that activin is expressed in the goldfish ovary, the cloning of activin receptors from the ovary suggests paracrine and autocrine roles for activin in the goldfish ovarian functions.

ABSTRACT

The gene and 5′ flanking promoter region for yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata) GH (yGH) have been cloned, sequenced and characterized. The yGH gene spans approximately 4·6 kb and consists of six exons and five introns, as has been observed with rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon and tilapia GH genes. This result suggests that the structure of six exons and five introns is a dominant form in fish GH genes. A typical TATA box exists 26 bp upstream from the transcription start site, and Pit-1/GHF-1 (Pit-1) binding site-homologous regions were found in the promoter region of the yGH gene. In a gel shift assay, however, a single shifted band was detected with the fragments containing a region from −128 to −90 of the yGH 5′ flanking region when they were incubated with yellowtail pituitary nuclear extracts. The bound fragments contained an octamer base sequence similar, but not identical, to mammalian consensus Pit-1 binding element. A consensus octamer sequence is also proposed in this report for the binding of teleost and avian Pit-1 transcription factors.

ABSTRACT

Cultured 3T3-F442A preadipocytes are able to undergo GH-promoted differentiation into adipocytes. The relationship between the structure and function of GH receptors on 3T3 cells (3T3-F442A preadipocytes, differentiated adipocytes and 3T3-C2 cells, which vary in susceptibility to adipose conversion or with respect to carbohydrate and lipid metabolism) was studied by the covalent cross-linking of ¹²⁵I-labelled human (h) GH to intact cells with the bifunctional reagent disuccinimidyl suberate. When preadipocytes were cross-linked and analysed using sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, a prominent ¹²⁵I-labelled hGH-receptor complex of M _r 130 000 was observed along with minor complexes (M _r 300 000, 230 000 and 60 000) on autoradiography. Non-reducing—reducing two-dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed that the higher molecular weight complexes also contained the M _r 130 000 complex. Neuraminidase and tunicamycin treatment demonstrated that the GH receptor on F442A preadipocytes is a sialo-glycoprotein with N-linked carbohydrate chains. When the differentiated 3T3-F442A adipocytes and 3T3-C2 cells (a sub-line with no susceptibility to adipose conversion with GH) were examined in the same way as 3T3-F442A preadipocytes, no differences were observed in the specificity of GH binding and in the molecular size of the ¹²⁵I-labelled hGH-receptor complexes and their glycosylation characteristics. This suggests that the structural characteristics of the GH receptor are closely related in each cell type, but that the hormonal signals produced after GH binding to the receptor may cause different effects according to the cell type.

ABSTRACT

The enzyme aromatase P-450 (P450arom) catalyses the conversion of androgen to oestrogen. A cDNA insert encoding P450arom was isolated from a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) ovary cDNA library. The insert was sequenced and found to contain an open-reading frame predicted to encode a protein of 522 amino acid residues. The deduced polypeptide is 52% homologous with human, mouse and rat P450arom and 53% homologous with that of chicken. The insert was confirmed to encode P450arom by introducing it into COS-1 monkey kidney tumour cells (COS-1 cells) and detecting the conversion of testosterone to oestradiol-17β by radioimmunoassay. The N-terminal region of the deduced polypeptide was 19 amino acids longer than that of the other four species, and was found by hydropathy plotting to be very hydrophobic.

Northern blot analysis revealed 2.6kb RNA transcripts which were present in the trout ovary during vitellogenesis and hybridized to the cDNA insert. In preparations from subsequent stages of ovarian development, no RNA transcripts hybridized to the probe. Since the RNA transcripts are present only during the stage of oestradiol-β production by the ovarian follicles, oestradiol-17β production may be regulated, in part, by the amount of P450arom mRNA present.