Brain Mapping of Ghrelin O-Acyltransferase in Goldfish (Carassius Auratus): Novel Roles for the Ghrelinergic System in Fish?

Hypothalamic Integration of Metabolic, Endocrine, and Circadian Signals in Fish: Involvement in the Control of Food Intake

The regulation of food intake in fish is a complex process carried out through several different mechanisms in the central nervous system (CNS) with hypothalamus being the main regulatory center. As in mammals, a complex hypothalamic circuit including two populations of neurons: one co-expressing neuropeptide Y (NPY) and Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) and the second one population co-expressing pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) is involved in the integration of information relating to food intake control. The production and release of these peptides control food intake, and the production results from the integration of information of different nature such as levels of nutrients and hormones as well as circadian signals. The present review summarizes the knowledge and recent findings about the presence and functioning of these mechanisms in fish and their differences vs. the known mammalian model.

Characterization of Ghrelin O-Acyltransferase (GOAT) in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Ghrelin is the only known hormone posttranslationally modified with an acylation. This modification is crucial for most of ghrelin’s physiological effects and is catalyzed by the polytopic enzyme ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT). The aim of this study was to characterize GOAT in a teleost model, goldfish (Carassius auratus). First, the full-length cDNA sequence was obtained by RT-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends methods. Two highly homologous cDNAs of 1491 and 1413 bp, respectively, named goat-V1 and goat-V2 were identified. Deduced protein sequences (393 and 367 amino acids, respectively) are predicted to present 11 and 9 transmembrane regions, respectively, and both contain two conserved key residues proposed to be involved in catalysis: asparagine 273 and histidine 304. RT-qPCR revealed that both forms of goat mRNAs show a similar widespread tissue distribution, with the highest expression in the gastrointestinal tract and gonads and less but considerable expression in brain, pituitary, liver and adipose tissue. Immunostaining of intestinal sections showed the presence of GOAT immunoreactive cells in the intestinal mucosa, some of which colocalize with ghrelin. Using an in vitro approach, we observed that acylated ghrelin downregulates GOAT gene and protein levels in cultured intestine in a time-dependent manner. Finally, we found a rhythmic oscillation of goat mRNA expression in the hypothalamus, pituitary and intestinal bulb of goldfish fed at midday, but not at midnight. Together, these findings report novel data characterizing GOAT, and offer new information about the ghrelinergic system in fish.