Insulin-like system and growth regulation in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas: hrIGF-1 effect on protein synthesis of mantle edge cells and expression of an homologous insulin receptor-related receptor

The involvement of molecules belonging to the insulin/IGF family in regulation of growth has been investigated in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. In vitro biological effects of human recombinant IGF-1 (hrIGF-1) on mantle edge cells, involved in oyster shell and soft body growth, were studied over an annual cycle. In mantle edge cells hrIGF-1 stimulates protein synthesis of 56+/-5.1% over basal for 10(-10) M in September with in addition a clear dose-effect corresponding to the highest shell growth period, and 57.5+/-3.45% over basal for 10(-11) M in March and 51+/-5.4% over basal for 10(-10) M in April corresponding to the period of mantle growth. These insulin-like effects were associated with the expression of a recently identified C. gigas insulin receptor-related receptor (CIR) in mantle edge cells as demonstrated by RT-PCR. Moreover, in situ hybridisation (ISH) confirmed this expression at the level of the inner and outer epithelia involved in mantle growth and shell formation.

Protein synthesis in vitro by mantle tissue of the land snail Otala lactea: possible insulin-like peptide function

Mantle-collar tissue from adult land snails Otala lactea continuously incorporated labelled amino acids over a 72-h period of incubation in modified culture medium. Acid-saline extract of cerebral ganglia stimulated protein synthesis by the mantle-collar tissue in vitro. This effect was dose-dependent, with the minimum and maximum doses at 0.5 and 2 cerebral ganglion equivalents, respectively. The protein synthesis-stimulating factor(s) from the cerebral ganglia appeared to be proteinaceous and hydrophobic in nature. The cerebral ganglion extract was fractionated by means of a size-exclusion HPLC column. The biological activity was induced by three fractions with estimated molecular masses of 0.82, 1.88, and 4.33 kilodaltons (kDa). Porcine insulin antiserum abolished the activity of the 4.33- and 1.88-kDa fractions but had no significant effect on the activity of the 0.82-kDa fraction. The results suggest the existence in the cerebral ganglia of more than one factor with protein synthesis-stimulating activity. One of these factors could be related to mammalian insulin. Porcine insulin, however, had no significant effect on protein synthesis by the mantle collar in vitro.