Endocrine Regulation of Appetite and Growth in Atlantic Cod (Gadus Morhua)
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ENDOCRINE REGULATION OF APPETITE AND GROWTH IN ATLANTIC COD (GADUS MORHUA) by Meiyu Xu A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Science Department of Biology Faculty of Science Memorial University ofNewfoundland May, 2009 St. John' s Newfoundland Abstract Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is an important commercial fisheries species in many North Atlantic countries. Due to the recent decline in cod populations worldwide, Atlantic cod has become an emerging species in aquaculture in Canada, in particular New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The well-developed resistance to long-term starvation also makes cod a good model for the study of growth- and appetite-related hormones under both short-and long-term nutritional changes. The endocrinal regulation of food intake and energy homeostasis involves a two-way communication of hormones existing in central nervous system and several peripheral organs. I aimed to identify and characterizing genes coding for two growth-related factors (P ACAP and SS), as well as one central (OX) and two peripheral (ghrelin and GRP) appetite-related factors in Atlantic cod. Multiple alignments and phylogenetic analyses show that the amino acid sequences all 5 peptides appear relatively conserved among fish, at least among teleosts. The typical expression patterns reflect their functional regions and are highly similar to those of other teleosts reported so far, with high forebrain expression levels for brain peptides and high stomach expression levels for gut peptides. For all the peptides in the present study, an early appearance in development probably indicates a crucial role in development. The apparent differences of expression for PPSS 1, OX and NPY before and after first larval feeding suggest that growth and appetite in fish are already under strict endocrine regulation at very early stages of life. The different expression patterns displayed by PPSS 1 and PRP/PACAP during fasting andre-feeding indicate that they might have distinct functions in the regulation of feeding and metabolism of Atlantic cod. I OX and NPY both display periprandial changes and appear to be more affected by re feeding than a long fasting period, while an increase in CART expression was induced during long-term food deprivation. Ghrelin displayed periprandial changes in expression but was not affected by fasting, while GRP did not display periprandial changes but was affected by food ration. One month exposure to different photoperiods did not affect food intake, body length or growth condition factors in juvenile cod. No overall orexigenic or anorexigenic tendency is shown in juvenile cod, though hypothalamic expressions of both NPY, an appetite stimulator, and CART, a feeding inhibitor, increase in cod exposed to complete darkness compared to fish in constant light. QPCR showed no significant effects of photoperiod on the expression levels of gut ghrelin and GRP. In general, the interaction displayed in Atlantic cod between brain and gut peptites with appetite and nutritional status may help further understanding of the endocrinal control of appetite and the effects of environmental factors, such as photoperiods, in teleosts. II Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my dedicated supervisor, Dr. Helene Volkoff, for her guidance, support and friendship throughout the production of this thesis. She has offered me valuable ideas, suggestions and criticisms during the process of my graduate study with her profound knowledge and rich research experience. Her patience and kindness are greatly appreciated. Besides, she always puts high priority on my dissertation writing and is willing to discuss with me anytime she is available. I would like to thank Dr. Ross McGowan and Dr. William Driedzic for all the support provided as a member of the supervisory committee and for critically reviewing the thesis. Financial support for this study was provided by grants to Dr. Helene Volkoff from a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery grant and a Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) New Opportunities grant. Many thanks to Danny Boyce and the JBARB staff at the Ocean Sciences Centre for their technical support in maintaining the fish. I would like to thank my labmates Amy Kehoe, Erin McDonald, Rosa Martinez, Matthew Grenning and Leah Hoskins for their friendship, motivational support in many ways. At last but not least, I would like to thank my family for their support all the way from the very beginning of my postgraduate study. I am thankful to my parents and my husband for their thoughtfulness and encouragement. III Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................. .I Acknowledgements ..................... .. ................... ....................................... III Table of contents ......................................................... ... ............... ........ .IV List of figures ............................................... .. ..................................................... ............VII List of tables ...................................................................................................... .. ............ .IX Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... X Chapter 1. General introduction .................................................................. ........................ 1 1.1. Hormonal regulation of growth and appetite in vertebrates ............................... 1 1.2. Appetite-related hormones .................................................................................. 5 1.2.1. Hormones from the central nervous system ............................................... 5 1.2.1.1. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related peptide (AgRP) ...........5 1.2.1.2. Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) ............ ..................................... 8 1.2.1.3. Orexin (OX) ................................................................................ 11 1.2.2. Peripheral systems ................................................................................... 13 1.2.2.1 . Ghrelin ......................................................................................... 13 1.2.2.2. Bombesin (BBS) and Gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) ............... 17 1.2.2.3. Cholecystokinin (CCK) ........ ....................................................... 18 1.2.2.4. Leptin ........................................................................................... 19 1.2.3. Summary ............................ .................................... .... 20 1.3. Growth- related hormones .................................................... ... .............. ........... 21 1.3 .1. Somatotrophic axis ............... ....................... ............................................ 21 1.3.2. Ghrelin: Third pathway of GH regulation ...............................................24 1.3 .3. Summary ...... .. .. ..................................................................26 1.4. Environmental factors ................................................................................ ....... 25 1.5. Atlantic cod .......................................................................................................27 1.6. Summary and objectives ofthe thesis ............................................................... 28 Chapter 2. Molecular characterization of growth-related hormones (PACAP and PPSS 1) and appetite-related hormones (OX, ghrelin and GRP) ..................................... 33 2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 33 2.2. Materials and methods .. ............................................. .. ........... .......................... 36 2.2.1. Animals ................. ................................................................................... 36 2.2.2. Isolation of precursor cDNAs from cod brain and gut ............................ 37 2.2.3. Cloning of ghrelin and gastrin-releasing peptide genomic sequences .... .40 2.2.4. Sequence and structure analysis .............................................................. .41 2.3. Results and discussion ........... .................................. ........................................ .42 2.3.1. Structure ofPRP/PACAP and PPSS 1 in Atlantic cod ...................... ..... .42 2.3.2. Structure of OX cDNAs in Atlantic cod .................................................. 53 2.3.3. Structure of cDNAs and genomic sequences for ghrelin and GRP in Atlantic cod ..................................................................................... .... 61 2.4. Summary and conclusion .................................................................................. 71 Chapter 3. Gene expression profiles for (PACAP, PPSS I, OX, NPY, CART, ghrelin and GRP) in tissues and brain regions, and various developmental stages .............. 73 IV 3 .1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 73 3 .2. Materials and methods ...................................................................................... 73 3.3. Results and discussion ...................................................................................... 76 3.3.1.