Abstract
Growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH) is a neuropeptide that controls growth hormone (GH) synthesis and release. In this study, the full-length cDNA of Mastacembelus armatus ghrh was obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends method. Sequence analysis showed that the cloned sequence is 1090 bp in length, containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 429 bp that encodes a precursor protein of 142 amino acids. Sequence alignment revealed that the 27-amino acid mature peptide of Ghrh in M. armatus is conserved. Real-time PCR showed that ghrh is highly expressed in the brain, with very low or no expression in other tissues. During embryonic and larval development, ghrh expression was low in embryos but increased gradually in the stages of larval development. The biological function of Ghrh peptide was further investigated in vivo. Ghrh injection could significantly upregulate the mRNA expression of growth hormone (gh) and insulin-like growth factor-1/2 (igf-1/2) in M. armatus. Our data indicate that Ghrh is able to activate the GH-IGFs axis in M. armatus.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Billestrup N, Swanson LW, Vale W (1986) Growth hormone-releasing factor stimulates proliferation of somatotrophs in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 83(18):6854–6857. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.83.18.6854
Cakmak E, Alp A (2010) Morphological differences among the Mesopotamian spiny eel, Mastacembelus mastacembelus (Banks & Solander, 1794), populations. Turk J Fish Aquat Sci 10:87–92. https://doi.org/10.4194/trjfas.2010.0113
Canosa LF, Chang JP, Peter RE (2007) Neuroendocrine control of growth hormone in fish. Gen Comp Endocrinol 151(1):1–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2006.12.010
Froese R, Pauly D (2020) World Wide Web electronic publication Fishbase. www.fishbase.org. Accessed 26 Feb 2020
Gahete MD, Durán-Prado M, Luque RM, Martínez-Fuentes AJ, Quintero A, Gutiérrez-Pascual E, Córdoba-Chacón J, Malagón MM, Gracia-Navarro F, Castaño JP (2009) Understanding the multifactorial control of growth hormone release by somatotropes: lessons from comparative endocrinology. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1163:137–153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2008.03660.x
Han LQ, Bai JJ, Li SJ (2011) Comparison of gene structure, sequence homology and expression pattern of largemouth bass ghrh-lp and ghrh. Acta Hydrobiol Sin 35(3):473–481. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1035.2011.00473
Hernández Llorente MD, Dato Gómez MJ, de Costa RJ, Mendiola López P, Zamora Navarro S (2004) Effect of recombinant human GH and GHRH on plasma metabolite levels in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). J Physiol Biochem 60(3):211–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03167031
Hossain MY, Hossen MA, Yahya K, Ahmed ZF, Sarder MRI, Islam MA, Ahmed KKU (2015) Threatened fishes of the world: Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepede, 1800) (Synbranchiformes: Mastacembelidae). Croat J Fish 73:137–139. https://doi.org/10.14798/73.3.820
Jansson JO, Ishikawa K, Katakami H, Frohman LA (1987) Pre-and postnatal developmental changes in hypothalamic content of rat growth hormone-releasing factor. Endocrinology 120:525–530. https://doi.org/10.1159/000124579
Ji XS, Chen SL, Jiang YL, Xu TJ, Yang JF, Tian YS (2011) Growth differences and differential expression analysis of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) and growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) between the sexes in half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis. Gen Comp Endocrinol 170:99–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2010.09.011
Johnson GD, Patterson C (1993) Percomorph phylogeny - a survey of Acanthomorphs and a new proposal. Bull Mar Sci 52(1):554–626
Lee LTO, Siu FKY, Tam JKV, Lau ITY, Wong AOL, Lin MCM, Vaudry H, Chow BKC (2007) Discovery of growth hormone-releasing hormones and receptors in nonmammalian vertebrates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:2133–2138. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0611008104
Li WS, Chen D, Wong AOL, Lin HR (2005) Molecular cloning, tissue distribution, and ontogeny of mRNA expression of growth hormone in orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides). Gen Comp Endocrinol 144(1):78–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2005.04.018
Li Q, Xu R, Shu H, Chen Q, Huang JR (2016) The complete mitochondrial genome of the Zig-zag eel Mastacembelus armatus (Teleostei, Mastacembelidae). Mitochondrial DNA A 27:330–331. https://doi.org/10.3109/19401736.2014.892102
Ling N, Baird A, Wehrenberg WB, Ueno N, Munegumi T, Brazeau P (1984) Brazeau Synthesis and in vitro bioactivity of C-terminal deleted analogs of human growth hormone-releasing factor. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 123:854–861. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-291X(84)90309-7
Mayo KE, Miller T, DeAlmeida V, Godfrey P, Zheng J, Cunha SR (2000) Regulation of the pituitary somatotroph cell by GHRH and its receptor. Recent Prog Horm Res 55:237–266
Müller EE, Locatelli V, Cocchi D (1999) Neuroendocrine control of growth hormone secretion. Physiol Rev 79(2):511–607. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.1999.79.2.511
Nam BH, Moon JY, Kim YO, Kong HJ, Kim WJ, Kim KK, Lee SJ (2011) Molecular and functional analyses of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) from olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol 159:84–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2011.02.006
Nelson JS (2006) Fishes of the world, 4th edn. Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, pp 316–317
Qian YH, Yan A, Lin HR, Li WS (2012) Molecular characterization of the GHRH/GHRH-R and its effect on GH synthesis and release in orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides). Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol 163:229–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2012.06.004
Rahman MM, Ali MR, Sarder MRI, Mollah MFA, Khan NS (2016) Development of sperm cryopreservation protocol of endangered spiny eel, Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepede 1800) for ex-situ conservation. Cryobiology 73:316–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2016.10.004
Shu H, Jiang XL, Yang HQ, Lin TT, Zhou HQ, Zhang MQ, Zha GC (2017) Analysis of morphological variations among seven wild populations of Mastacembelus armatus in South China area. J Guangzhou Univ (Natural Science Edition) 16:8–14 (in China)
Wang YJ, Li J, Wang CY, Kwok AH, Leung FC (2007) Identification of the endogenous ligands for chicken growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) receptor: evidence for a separate gene encoding GHRH in submammalian vertebrates. Endocrinology 148:2405–2416. https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2006-1013
Zhou HQ, Li F, Shu H, Zhong DM, He PY, Huang XQ, Chen ZK (2019) Analysis on morphological indexes and discrimination of male and female Mastacembelus armatus. J Guangdong Ocean Univ 39:1–6 (in China)
Zhu F, Wang Q, Li YQ, Zhou Z, Wang HY, Ye HZ, Luo J, Chen GH (2019) Cloning, tissue and embryo expression patterns of GHRH gene in Trachinotus blochii. Genomics Appl Biol 38:1969–1976 (in China)
Acknowledgments
We thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this work.
Funding
This work is supported by the National public industry major projects of China (No. 201303048), Guangdong Oceanic and Fisheries Science and Technology Foundation (A201601A05), the Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Program (No. 2014A020208145), and China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund (CAMC-2018F).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
The animal experiments were approved by the Animal Research and Ethics Committees of Guangzhou University.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhong, D., Zhang, M., Lan, X. et al. Molecular cloning and functional characterization of growth hormone–releasing hormone in Mastacembelus armatus. Fish Physiol Biochem 47, 69–78 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-020-00895-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-020-00895-5