Changes in gonadal development in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) following intramuscular injection of an FSH single-chain- expression plasmid
-
1
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (IATS), Spain
The gonadotropin hormones, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), are central players in the control of vertebrate reproduction. In fish, the knowledge on their functions is still too scarce to assign differential roles to these hormones. In the specific case of the FSH, information is very limited in fish species other than salmonids. To undertake functional studies of FSH in sea bass we aimed to evaluate the potential of intramuscular injection of an FSH encoding plasmid as means of hormone delivery in vivo. Immature sea bass males were injected with an expression plasmid containing a scFSH coding gene (pscFSH), or with empty plasmid as control (pControl). Plasmid injections effects were monitored by changes in plasma FSH levels. The biological activity of the FSH produced by fish muscle cells was proved by evaluating plasma 11-ketotestosterone (11-Kt) levels and gonadal histology. Expression changes for LH receptor, Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) and synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SCP3) genes, were also evaluated in gonads by real-time PCR. Increments in plasma FSH levels were detected in the pscFSH injected group 15 days after first injection and lasted until day 23. Up to day 15, plasma levels of 11-Kt were significantly higher in pscFSH group respect to controls. Changes in gonad structure were already observed at day 15, when a significant increase in the percentage of mitosis was observed. mRNA levels of the meiotic cell marker SCP3 rose at day 15, in the pscFSH group, reaching a peak 23 days after the first injection. This increase in SCP3 expression was concordant with the histology, as the pscFSH group showed more advanced germ cells at day 23, while the control group remained immature. The raise of circulating FSH was accompanied by an elevation of LHR transcripts at day 15 and 23 and by a decreasing tendency in AMH gene expression. These findings support the putative role of FSH as the initial signal of spermatogenesis in sea bass, mediating steroid synthesis and germ cell proliferation. Additionally we demonstrate the utility of gene delivery for hormone therapy in fish.
Acknowledgements
Research supported by MICINN (AGL2005-00796 and AGL2008-02937) MJ. Mazón received a FPI fellowship from the Spanish MICINN
Keywords:
comparative endocrinology
Conference:
25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists, Pécs, Hungary, 31 Aug - 4 Sep, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Conference Presentation
Topic:
Comparative endocrinology
Citation:
Mazon Moya
M,
Gomez
A and
Zanuy
S
(2010). Changes in gonadal development in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) following intramuscular injection of an FSH single-chain- expression plasmid.
Front. Endocrinol.
Conference Abstract:
25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fendo.2010.01.00059
Copyright:
The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers.
They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters.
The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated.
Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed.
For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions.
Received:
27 Aug 2010;
Published Online:
29 Aug 2010.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Maria Jose Mazon Moya, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (IATS), Castellón, Spain, mazon@iats.csic.es