Intracellular mechanisms involved in copper-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Cu-GnRH) complex-induced cAMP/PKA signaling in female rat anterior pituitary cells in vitro

Challenges and Recommendations in Assessing Potential Endocrine-Disrupting Properties of Metals in Aquatic Organisms

New tools and refined frameworks for identifying and regulating endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are being developed as our scientific understanding of how they work advances. Although focus has largely been on organic chemicals, the potential for metals to act as EDCs in aquatic systems is receiving increasing attention. Metal interactions with the endocrine system are complicated because some metals are essential to physiological systems, including the endocrine system, and nonessential metals can have similar physiochemical attributes that allow substitution into or interference with these systems. Consequently, elevated metal exposure could potentially cause endocrine disruption (ED) but can also cause indirect effects on the endocrine system via multiple pathways or elicit physiologically appropriate compensatory endocrine-mediated responses (endocrine modulation). These latter two effects can be confused with, but are clearly not, ED. In the present study, we provide several case studies that exemplify the challenges encountered in evaluating the endocrine-disrupting (ED) potential of metals, followed by recommendations on how to meet them. Given that metals have multiple modes of action (MOAs), we recommend that assessments use metal-specific adverse outcome pathway networks to ensure that accurate causal links are made between MOAs and effects on the endocrine system. We recommend more focus on establishing molecular initiating events for chronic metal toxicity because these are poorly understood and would reduce uncertainty regarding the potential for metals to be EDCs. Finally, more generalized MOAs such as oxidative stress could be involved in metal interactions with the endocrine system, and we suggest it may be experimentally efficient to evaluate these MOAs when ED is inferred. These experiments, however, must provide explicit linkage to the ED endpoints of interest. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2564-2579. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Adverse Outcome Pathways for Chronic Copper Toxicity to Fish and Amphibians

In the present review, we synthesize information on the mechanisms of chronic copper (Cu) toxicity using an adverse outcome pathway framework and identify three primary pathways for chronic Cu toxicity: disruption of sodium homeostasis, effects on bioenergetics, and oxidative stress. Unlike acute Cu toxicity, disruption of sodium homeostasis is not a driving mechanism of chronic toxicity, but compensatory responses in this pathway contribute to effects on organism bioenergetics. Effects on bioenergetics clearly contribute to chronic Cu toxicity with impacts at multiple lower levels of biological organization. However, quantitatively translating these impacts into effects on apical endpoints such as growth, amphibian metamorphosis, and reproduction remains elusive and requires further study. Copper-induced oxidative stress occurs in most tissues of aquatic vertebrates and is clearly a significant driver of chronic Cu toxicity. Although antioxidant responses and capacities differ among tissues, there is no clear indication that specific tissues are more sensitive than others to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress leads to increased apoptosis and cellular damage in multiple tissues, including some that contribute to bioenergetic effects. This also includes oxidative damage to tissues involved in neuroendocrine axes and this damage likely alters the normal function of these tissues. Importantly, Cu-induced changes in hormone concentrations and gene expression in endocrine-mediated pathways such as reproductive steroidogenesis and amphibian metamorphosis are likely the result of oxidative stress-induced tissue damage and not endocrine disruption. Overall, we conclude that oxidative stress is likely the primary driver of chronic Cu toxicity in aquatic vertebrates, with bioenergetic effects and compensatory response to disruption of sodium homeostasis contributing to some degree to observed effects on apical endpoints. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:2911-2927. © 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Copper(II) Binding by the Earliest Vertebrate Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone, the Type II Isoform, Suggests an Ancient Role for the Metal

In vertebrate reproductive biology copper can influence peptide and protein function both in the pituitary and in the gonads. In the pituitary, copper binds to the key reproductive peptides gonadotropin-releasing hormone I (GnRH-I) and neurokinin B, to modify their structure and function, and in the male gonads, copper plays a role in testosterone production, sperm morphology and, thus, fertility. In addition to GnRH-I, most vertebrates express a second isoform, GnRH-II. GnRH-II can promote testosterone release in some species and has other non-reproductive roles. The primary sequence of GnRH-II has remained largely invariant over millennia, and it is considered the ancestral GnRH peptide in vertebrates. In this work, we use a range of spectroscopic techniques to show that, like GnRH-I, GnRH-II can bind copper. Phylogenetic analysis shows that the proposed copper-binding ligands are retained in GnRH-II peptides from all vertebrates, suggesting that copper-binding is an ancient feature of GnRH peptides.

A gonadotropin-releasing hormone type neuropeptide with a high affinity binding site for copper(ii) and nickel(ii)

In vertebrates gonadotropin-releasing hormone I (GnRH-I) is a key regulator of reproductive development and function. The receptor-binding activity of human GnRH-I can be modified by the presence of divalent copper. Thus, copper binding to N-terminal amino acids in GnRH-I induces structural changes that influence receptor interactions and downstream intracellular signalling cascades. It is not known if copper-binding is restricted to human GnRH-I or if it is also a feature of GnRH-type peptides that have been identified in other taxa. To investigate this, we have characterised copper binding to a recently discovered GnRH-type peptide from the starfish Asterias rubens (ArGnRH). Using a range of spectroscopic and biophysical techniques we show that this peptide can bind copper(ii) and nickel(ii). Copper(ii) is bound in a square-planar, high-affinity (Kd ∼ 10-12 M) site incorporating four nitrogen donor atoms from a histidine imidazole group, two amides and the N-terminal amine group. The ArGnRH copper affinity and geometry are quite different to GnRH-I suggesting the copper sites have evolved to suit the environment the peptides are exposed to. By comparing the copper binding sites in ArGnRH and human GnRH-I and conducting a phylogenetic analysis of GnRH-type peptide sequences from a range of species, we predict that copper-binding is an evolutionarily ancient feature of GnRH-type peptides that has been retained, modified or lost in different lineages.

Roles of copper in neurokinin B and gonadotropin-releasing hormone structure and function and the endocrinology of reproduction

Copper is a metal ion present in all organisms, where it has well-known roles in association with proteins and enzymes essential for cellular processes. In the early decades of the twentieth century copper was shown to influence mammalian reproductive biology, and it was subsequently shown to exert effects primarily at the level of the pituitary gland and/or hypothalamic regions of the brain. Furthermore, it has been reported that copper can interact with key neuropeptides in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, notably gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and neurokinin B. Interestingly, recent phylogenetic analysis of the sequences of GnRH-related peptides indicates that copper binding is an evolutionarily ancient property of this neuropeptide family, which has been variously retained, modified or lost in the different taxa. In this mini-review the metal-binding properties of neuropeptides in the vertebrate reproductive pathway are reviewed and the evolutionary and functional significance of copper binding by GnRH-related neuropeptides in vertebrates and invertebrates are discussed.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-Cu complex (Cu-GnRH) transcriptional activity in vivo in the female rat anterior pituitary gland

Unlike gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues characterized by amino acid replacement in decapeptide primary structure, Cu-GnRH molecule preserves the native sequence but contains a Cu²⁺ ion stably bound to the nitrogen atoms including that of the imidazole ring of His². Cu-GnRH can operate via cAMP/PKA signalling in anterior pituitary cells, suggesting that it may affect selected gonadotropic network gene transcription in vivo. We analysed pituitary mRNA expression of Egr-1, Nr5a1, and Lhb based on their role in luteinizing hormone (LH) synthesis; and Nos1, Adcyap1, and Prkaca due to their dependence on cAMP/PKA activity. In two independent experiments, ovariectomized rats received intracerebroventricular pulsatile (one pulse/h or two pulses/h over 5 h) microinjections of 2 nM Cu-GnRH; 2 nM antide (GnRH antagonist) + 2 nM Cu-GnRH; 100 nM PACAP_6-38 (PACAP receptor antagonist) + 2 nM Cu-GnRH. Relative expression of selected mRNAs was determined by qRT-PCR. LH serum concentration was examined according to RIA. All examined genes responded to Cu-GnRH stimulation with increased transcriptional activity in a manner dependent on pulse frequency pattern. Increased expression of Nr5a1, Lhb, Nos1, Adcyap1, and Prkaca mRNA was observed solely in rats receiving the complex with frequency of two pulses/h over 5 h. Egr-1 transcription was up-regulated for both applied Cu-GnRH pulsatile patterns. The stimulatory effect of Cu-GnRH on gene transcription was dependent on both GnRH receptor and PAC-1 activation. In conclusion, obtained results indicate that Cu-GnRH complex is a GnRH analogue able to induce both IP₃/PKC and cAMP/PKA-dependent gonadotrope network gene transcription in vivo.

Endocytosis of G Protein-Coupled Receptors and Their Ligands: Is There a Role in Metal Trafficking?

The prevalence of metal dysregulation in many neurodegenerative and neurocognitive disorders has compelled many studying such diseases to investigate the mechanisms underlying metal regulation in the central nervous system. Metal homoeostasis is often complex, with sophisticated, multilayered pathways in operation. G protein-coupled receptors are omnipresent on cell membranes and have intriguing mechanisms of endocytosis and trafficking that may be useful in metal homoeostasis. Indeed, many receptors and/or their cognate ligands are able to bind metals, and in many cases metals are considered to have neuromodulatory roles as a result of receptor binding. In this mini-review, we outline the structural and functional aspects of G protein-coupled receptors with a focus on the mechanisms leading to endocytosis and cellular trafficking. We further highlight how this may help in the trafficking of metal ions, notably copper.

Bu-shen-zhu-yun decoction promotes synthesis and secretion of FSHβ and LHβ in anterior pituitary cells in vitro

Luteal phase defects (LPD) are an important etiology of infertility which has increased in recent years. Studies have shown that bu-shen-zhu-yun decoction (BSZY-D) can lower the expression of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor, in rats endometrium of embryonic implantation period, which upregulated by mifepristone, and improve uterine receptivity. The aim of present study was to determine the effect of BSZY-D on the synthesis and secretion of gonadotropic hormones in the anterior pituitary cells of rats. Rats were treated with saline (control) or BSZY-D two times/day for three estrous cycles by gavage. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were collected for further cell treatment. The components in BSZY-D, serum and CSF were analysed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Cells were either pretreated with normal CSF or BSZY-D/CSF before being stimulated with or without cetrorelix. The mRNA and proteins levels of receptors, hormones, and transcription factors were detected by RT-PCR, western blot analysis and immunostaining. We show that non-toxic concentrations of cetrorelix, a GnRH antagonist, can reduce the mRNA and protein levels of GnRHR, LH, and FSH. This effect could be reversed by the addition of BSZY-D/CSF. We also show decreased mRNA and protein expression of transcription factors, such as CREB, and Egr-1 and secretory vescicles, including SNAP-25 and Munc-18 upon treatment with cetrorelix could be reversed post co-treatment with BSZY-D/CSF. These results indicate that BSZY-D/CSF treatment led to increased levels of GnRHR, transcription factors, and secretory vesicles leading to increased secretion of FSH and LH. Thus, BSZY-D presents a promising candidate to treat luteal phase defects and infertility.