Structure, expression, and evolution of growth hormone genes

Is the World Health Organization’s multicentre child growth standard an appropriate growth reference for assessing optimal growth of South African mixed-ancestry children?

In South Africa (SA), it has been estimated that one-third of boys and 25% of girls under the age of 5 years are stunted, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Multicentre Growth Reference Study. During the past decade, research in developed and developing countries has shown that the international growth standard overestimates stunting and/or wasting when compared with population-specific growth references. Population-specific growth references typically incorporate genetic and environmental factors and can therefore better inform public health by identifying children who may be at risk for malnutrition, or who may be ill. Using the universal growth standard in SA may not be accurately assessing growth. In this article, environmental and genetic factors, and their influence on growth, are reviewed. These points are illustrated through a brief history of the peopling of SA, with an understanding of the socioeconomic and political climate – past and present. We discuss the uniqueness of certain population groups in SA, with contributions regarding some of the shortest peoples in the world and a history of sociopolitical inequities, which may mean that children from certain population groups who are perfectly healthy would underperform using the universal growth standard. Therefore, we suggest that a local population-specific growth reference would serve to better inform public health policies, and address childhood health equity and physical developmental pathways to adult health risk status.  

Structure of a fish (rainbow trout) growth hormone gene and its evolutionary implications

We have isolated and sequenced a clone from a rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) genomic library that carries a gene encoding a fish growth hormone (GH). This gene spans a region of approximately equal to 4 kilobases, nearly twice that of mammalian GH genes. The trout GH gene is comprised of six exons, in contrast with five exons in mammals. The additional intron in the fish gene interrupts translated regions that are analogous to the last exon of its mammalian counterpart. In addition, the alleged internally repeating sequence in mammalian GH, prolactin (Prl), or placental lactogen (PL) is not observed in the predicted polypeptide sequence of fish GH. Direct repeats that flank exons I, III, and V of the mammalian GH, Prl, and PL genes are absent in the fish GH gene. These findings indicate that the rainbow trout GH gene structure does not support the current hypothesis that internally repeated regions in GH, Prl, and PL arose from a small primordial gene.

Repression mediates cell-type-specific expression of the rat growth hormone gene

A plasmid containing 1.8 kilobase pairs of rat growth hormone (rGH) promoter and upstream flanking sequences fused to the bacterial gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) was transiently introduced into pituitary, fibroblast, and kidney cell lines. Significant CAT activity was detectable only in the pituitary cell lines, demonstrating that this relatively large fragment directs strongly cell-type-specific expression. However, plasmids containing only 200-300 bases of rGH promoter and flanking sequences directed expression of CAT in all three cell types, suggesting that upstream sequences directly repress the activity of a minimal rGH promoter in nonpituitary cell types. S1 nuclease analysis showed that the RNA synthesis directed by one of the short rGH promoter fragments in fibroblasts initiated from the site used by the natural promoter in pituitary cells. Insertion of rGH upstream sequences in their natural orientation upstream of the mouse metallothionein I promoter caused a decrease in its activity in fibroblasts by a factor of 4, but there was a 2.5-fold increase in its activity in pituitary cells. Insertion of the rGH fragment upstream of the thymidine kinase promoter in either orientation lowered its activity in both fibroblasts and pituitary cells. Thus, the negatively acting rGH flanking sequences can act on a heterologous promoter and have at least some of the properties of positively acting enhancers.

Control of gene expression by glucocorticoid hormones

Glucocorticoids control the expression of a small number of transcriptionally active genes by increasing or decreasing mRNA concentration. Either effect can result from a transcriptional or a post-transcriptional mechanism. Induction of mouse mammary tumour virus RNA results from a stimulation of transcription initiation and depends on the presence of defined regions in proviral DNA. These regions bind the glucocorticoid receptor and behave functionally as proto-enhancers. Glucocorticoid-inducible genes can retain their sensitivity to the hormone after transfer to a heterologous cell by transfection techniques. Non-inducible genes can become inducible when linked to the promoter region of an inducible gene. The mechanisms by which the receptor-steroid complex stimulates or inhibits transcription or influences mRNA stability are unknown. Receptor binding to nucleic acids appears to be a necessary but not sufficient condition. It is likely that the receptor also interacts with chromatin proteins. This might lead to a catalytic modification of these proteins, resulting in a modulation of gene expression. Development of glucocorticoid-sensitive, biochemically defined, cell-free transcription systems should provide a tool to delineate the molecular determinants of this essential regulatory mechanism.