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Endocrinology Vol. 142, No. 1 446-454
Copyright © 2001 by The Endocrine Society


ARTICLES

Characterization of Three Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptors in Catfish: A Novel Third Receptor Is Predominantly Expressed in Pituitary and Urophysis1,2

Maya Arai, Iman Q. Assil and Abdul B. Abou-Samra

Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Abdul Abou-Samra, Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114. E-mail: samra{at}helix.mgh.harvard.edu


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The present study reports the isolation of three complementary DNA (cDNA) clones encoding distinct subtypes of CRF receptors from the diploid catfish (cf) species, Ameiurus nebulosus. The first clone encodes a 446-amino acid protein (cfCRF-R1) that is highly homologous to mouse (m) CRF-R1 (93% identical). The cfCRF-R1 messenger RNA is highly expressed in the brain, and its distribution pattern correlates well with that of mammalian CRF-R1, except for weak expression in the pituitary. When transiently expressed in COS-7 cells, cfCRF-R1 bound CRF, urotensin I, and sauvagine with similar affinities. The second full-length cDNA, which was cloned from catfish heart, encodes a 406-amino acid protein that showed homology to murine CRF-R2 (88%) and when expressed in COS-7 cells preferentially bound sauvagine. The highest level of cfCRF-R2 expression was observed in the heart. The third full-length cDNA clone, which encodes a 428-amino acid protein, is structurally closer to cfCRF-R1 (85%) than to cfCRF-R2 (80%). This novel CRF receptor (cfCRF-R3) bound CRF with a 5-fold higher affinity than urotensin I and sauvagine and was expressed in the pituitary gland, urophysis, and brain. The presence of three different CRF receptors, each with distinct tissue distribution and ligand binding properties, suggests a complex CRF/urotensin I system.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
CRF, A 41-AMINO acid peptide, plays a central role in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, serves as an important neuropeptide in the brain (1, 2), and is involved in the immune stress response (1). The CRF sequence is highly conserved among mammals (3, 4), Xenopus (5), and certain species of fish, such as the suckerfish (6). However, tilapia (7) and salmon (8) CRF have 10 amino acid substitutions relative to the mammalian form. Urotensin I (UI), which has approximately 50% amino acid similarity to CRF, was isolated from the urophysis, a specialized neurosecretory organ located in the caudal portion of the spinal cord in fish (9). A mammalian analog for UI, urocortin (UC), has been cloned from mouse, human, and sheep (10, 11, 12). Another related peptide, sauvagine (SVG), isolated from the serous glands of Phyllomedusa sauvagei (13), is 50% similar to human CRF and about 30% similar to UI/UC.

Two CRF receptor subtypes, CRF-R1 and CRF-R2, have been identified in human (14, 15), rat (16, 17, 18), mouse (19, 20, 21), and Xenopus (22). Mammalian CRF-R1, which is the major CRF subtype expressed in the pituitary, has similar binding affinities and activation potencies for CRF, SVG, UI, and UC (19). In contrast, the mammalian CRF-R2 binds sauvagine and UI/UC with higher affinity than CRF (15, 18, 20). Interestingly, unlike other species, Xenopus (x) CRF-R1, which is also expressed in pituitary and brain, binds UI/UC and CRF with higher affinities than SVG (22).

The stress response in teleost fish is similar to that observed in the mammalian system despite being a phylogenetically older species. Handling and confinement stress increase the plasma concentrations of cortisol and POMC peptides within minutes (23). The presence of an additional neuroendocrine organ, the urophysis, which is not present in higher vertebrates, suggests that the fish species have a unique neuroendocrine control system that may be more complex than that of mammals. Here we report the molecular cloning of three distinct complementary DNAs (cDNAs) encoding different CRF receptors from a diploid species of catfish, Ameiurus nebulosus (24). In addition to the two subtypes, CRF-R1 and CRF-R2, known in other species, we identified a third catfish CRF receptor (cfCRF-R3) that has distinct structural and functional properties and tissue expression patterns.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
PCR cloning and sequence analysis
Total RNA, isolated from catfish brain and heart using TRIzol reagent (Life Technologies, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD), was used for oligo(deoxythymidine)-primed first strand cDNA synthesis (Ambion, Inc., Austin, TX). Polyadenylated RNA was prepared from the total RNA using oligo(deoxythymidine) column (American Bioanalytical, Natick, MA). Degenerate primers were designed based on sequence conservation across species for CRF-R1 and CRF-R2. The primers MA3 (5'-C-TC/G-C-G-C-A-A-A/G-T-G-G-A-T-G-T-T-C-A/G-T-C-T-G-C/T-A-T-3'; sense) and MA5 (5'-G-G/T-G-A-G/T-G-T-G-G-G-A/G-A-T-G-G-A-C-A-T-A/G-G-C-3'; antisense) resulted in PCR products representing fragments spanning the last four transmembrane and carboxyl-terminal regions of cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R3. The primers 2d1f (5'-G-A-C-C-A-G-A-T-C/T-G-G-C/G-A-C-G-T-G-C-T-G-G-C-C-3'; sense) and 2xr (5'-C-A-T-C-C-A-G-A-A-G-A-A-G-T-T-G-G-T-C/G-A-C-C-A-3'; antisense) produced cfCRF-R2 fragment including the amino-terminus and first transmembrane region. The initial PCR products were screened by Southern blot analysis (Phototope Star detection kit, New England Biolabs, Inc., Beverly, MA) using biotinylated (Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD) murine (m) CRF-R1 probe (position 1–700 bp). Once a cfCRF-R1 sequence was identified, the biotinylated cfCRF-R1 fragment was used as a probe for Southern blot screening of cfCRF-R2 and cfCRF-R3. Positive PCR products were subcloned into the TA cloning vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) and sequenced (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, NJ). To determine full-length receptor sequences, primers were designed based on the initial sequence of PCR clones that were used for rapid amplification of cDNA ends [RACE; Life Technologies, Inc. RACE system and CLONTECH Laboratories, Inc., Marathon system (Palo Alto, CA)]. Finally, subtype- specific oligonucleotide primers were designed using specific 5'- and 3'-sequences, and RT-PCR was performed to obtain the full-length cDNA sequences of three catfish CRF receptors. Several clones of each receptor subtype were sequenced in both directions to confirm the identity of the three receptor types.

Cell transfection
Full-coding cDNAs encoding cfCRF-R1, cfCRF-R2, cfCRF-R3, mCRF-R1, or mCRF-R2ß were inserted into pcDNA1 and transfected (10 µg) into 75–95% confluent COS-7 cells in a 15-cm culture dish using diethylaminoethyl-dextran transfection (25). Twenty-four hours after transfection, cells were seeded in 24-well plates at a density of 105 cells/well. Binding and cAMP accumulation assays were performed 72 h after transfection.

RRA of cloned receptors
Transiently transfected COS-7 cells were incubated with a modified SVG analog, 125I-[Tyr0, Gln1, Leu17]sauvagine (YQLS) (100,000 cpm/well) developed in our laboratory (26) or commercially available 125I-[Tyr0]sauvagine (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, NJ; 100,000 cpm/well) in the presence of increasing concentrations (0–1000 nM) of unlabeled human/rat CRF, UI, SVG, or YQLS at room temperature for 2 h in a Tris-based binding buffer [50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 2 mM CaCl2, 5% heat-inactivated horse serum, and 0.05% heat-inactivated FBS]. The cells were rinsed three times with binding buffer and lysed with 1 M NaOH, and the radioactivity of the cell lysates was determined by a {gamma}-counter (ICN Micromedic Systems, Horsham, PA). The apparent dissociation constant, Kd, was derived from competition studies and is defined as the concentration that competes off 50% of the bound radioligand, which is referred to as Ki.

cAMP accumulation assay
Three days after transfection, cells were stimulated with increasing concentrations of human/rat CRF, UI, or SVG in HEPES-buffered DMEM containing 20 mM HEPES (pH.7.4), 0.1% BSA, 100 mg/ml aprotinin, and 2 mM isobutylmethylxanthine for 15 min at 37 C. After incubation, the supernatant was removed, and the cells were frozen immediately on dry ice and kept at -80 C until RIA was performed. Intracellular cAMP was extracted by thawing the cells in 50 mM HCl and was measured by a specific cAMP RIA (25).

Northern blot analysis
Total RNA (20 µg) from brain, heart, liver, spleen, and gut were run on a denaturing formaldehyde/agarose gel and transferred to GeneScreen Plus nylon membrane (NEN Life Science Products, Boston, MA). The blot was prehybridized (2–4 h) and hybridized (overnight) at 42 C in 50% formamide buffer (for cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R2 hybridization). Full-length cfCRF-R1, cfCRF-R2, and cfCRF-R3 cDNAs (~1.2 kb) were labeled by random priming using [32P]deoxy-CTP (Roche, Indianapolis, IN). The blot was washed twice at 42 C in 2 x SSC/0.1% SDS (15 min each), then in 0.2 x SSC/0.1% SDS once at 42 C and once at 68 C. Hybridization of the cfCRF-R3 probe was performed in the commercially available hybridization buffer (QuickHyb, Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) following the manufacturer’s protocol.

In situ hybridization
Catfish brain, pituitary, heart, liver, and gut were removed immediately after decapitation and frozen on dry ice in OCT compound (Miles, Elkhart, IN). Frozen sections (12 µm) were prepared and stored at -80 C. In situ hybridizations were performed as previously described (27), using [35S]UTP-labeled probes [~500 bp clones initially cloned; MA3-MA5 (encoding the last four transmembranes and carboxyl- terminal regions of the receptor) for cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R3, 2d1f-2xr (encoding amino-terminus and first transmembrane region) for cfCRF-R2]. Sense probes were used as negative controls. Slides were exposed (Kodak NTB-2 emulsion, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY) for 2–4 weeks and stained with hematoxylin and eosin.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Cloning of three distinct catfish CRF receptors
Degenerate oligonucleotide primers for RT-PCR were designed based on highly conserved amino acid sequences for mammalian CRF-R1 and CRF-R2. RT-PCR amplification of total RNA from catfish brain with CRF-R1-based primers produced two distinct PCR products that had approximately 82% nucleotide sequence similarity. Both products had a higher homology to the mammalian CRF-R1 than to CRF-R2; one of the receptors was therefore designated cfCRF-R1, and the other cfCRF-R3. CRF-R2-based primers produced a single PCR product that showed a higher homology to the mammalian CRF-R2 than CRF-R1; this catfish receptor was therefore designated cfCRF-R2. Full-length cDNA sequences of each receptor were obtained by RACE using specific primers for each receptor subtype.

The nucleotide sequences of the three full-length cfCRF receptors are 73–78% identical, and their amino acid sequences show 80–85% sequence conservation (Fig. 1Go and Table 1Go). The cfCRF-R1 (446 amino acids) is structurally closer to the mammalian CRF-R1 (93% identical), whereas the cfCRF-R2 (406 amino acids) has the highest homology to the mammalian CRF-R2 (88% identical). The third receptor subtype, cfCRF-R3 (428 amino acids), has a higher homology to the mammalian CRF-R1 than CRF-R2 (89% vs. 80% identical, respectively; Table 1Go). The amino-termini (NT) of all three catfish CRF receptors vary significantly from each other and from other known CRF receptors (Fig. 1Go). The NT of cfCRF-R1 is longer than the corresponding region of the mammalian receptors and has nine potential N-linked glycosylation sites, whereas cfCRF-R2 and cfCRF-R3 contain only five and six of these sites, respectively. The NT of one of the four cloned cDNAs encoding the cfCRF-R3 was 16 amino acids shorter than the others; this suggests alternative splicing of the NT of cfCRF-R3.



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Figure 1. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of catfish (cf), mouse (m), and Xenopus (x) CRF receptors. Putative transmembrane regions (TM1-TM7) are underlined. Potential glycosylation sites (bold letters) and conserved cystein residues (*) within the extracellular amino-terminal domain are indicated. The missing sequence in the shorter splice variant of the cfCRF-R3 is indicated (^).

 

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Table 1. Comparison between amino acid (AA) and nucleotide (NT) sequences among catfish (CF), Xenopus (X), and mouse (M) CRF receptors

 
To ensure that cfCRF-R3 is not an allelic variation of cfCRF-R1, cDNA was prepared from the brains of three individual catfish. Each cDNA was PCR amplified using primers designed to be specific for each of the three catfish receptors. All three receptors were independently amplified from each individual catfish cDNA, and the nucleotide sequence was shown to be identical for each receptor subtype (not shown). To further investigate the existence of three distinct genes encoding cfCRF-R1, cfCRF-R2, and cfCRF-R3 in the catfish genome, Southern blot analysis of catfish genomic DNA digested with three different restriction enzymes was performed. Hybridization with each subtype-specific DNA probe yielded a distinct hybridization pattern (not shown).

Phylogenetic analysis of CRF receptors
An evolutionary tree based on amino acid sequence alignments of known CRF was constructed (28). The alignment showed that the cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R2 are more closely related to the mammalian CRF-R1 and CRF-R2, respectively. The cfCRF-R3 is phylogenetically closer to CRF-R1 than to CRF-R2; however, it diverges earlier from all known CRF-R1 sequences (Fig. 2Go).



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Figure 2. Phylogenetic tree of CRF receptors. The amino acid sequences of known CRF receptors were aligned by the pileup algorithm of the GCG package, and the tree was constructed according to the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) method (28 ). The topology of the tree and the length of its branches give an estimate of evolutionary time relationships.

 
Functional characterization of the catfish CRF receptors
COS-7 cells transiently expressing mCRF-R1, mCRF-R2ß, cfCRF-R1, cfCRF-R2, or cfCRF-R3 bound the oxidation- resistant radioiodinated SVG analog ([125I]YQLS) (26) with high affinity. Specific binding of [125I]YQLS was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by unlabeled CRF receptor agonists. Competition with CRF, UI, and SVG revealed that the cfCRF-R1 binding profile closely resembles that of mCRF-R1, with minimal ligand selectivity. The binding Ki of the different peptides to mCRF-R1 were 4.1 ± 0.7 nM for CRF, 3.8 ± 0.3 nM for UI, and 8.8 ± 1.5 nM for SVG; the binding Ki to cfCRF-R1 were 7.3 ± 2.6, 3.6 ± 0.8, and 8.7 ± 1.4 nM, respectively (Table 2Go). Dose-dependent increases in cAMP accumulation, which correlated well with binding profiles, were seen in COS-7 cells expressing cfCRF-R1. Half-maximal stimulation (EC50) by CRF, UI, and SVG were observed at 0.4 ± 0.2, 0.6 ± 0.2, and 1.6 ± 0.4 nM, respectively, and the values were comparable to those obtained with cells expressing the mCRF-R1 (0.5 ± 0.2, 0.8 ± 0.5, and 1.5 ± 0.6 nM, respectively; Table 2Go).


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Table 2. Binding and stimulation of cAMP accumulation in COS-7 cells expressing catfish (cf) or mouse (m) CRF receptors

 
The mCRF-R2ß and cfCRF-R2 bound [125I]YQLS with a significantly higher apparent affinity than mCRF-R1, cfCRF-R1, and cfCRF-R3 (Table 2Go). Furthermore, both CRF-R2 species bound YQLS with a higher apparent affinity than sauvagine. Thus, competition of [125I]YQLS requires a higher concentration of CRF-related peptides than those previously reported using radiolabeled sauvagine (Fig. 3Go). Five- to 10-fold lower Ki values were obtained for all CRF receptor agonists tested in COS-7 cells expressing mCRF-R2 and cfCRF-R2 when [125I]sauvagine was used instead of [125I]YQLS in this system (our unpublished observation). Competition binding studies in COS-7 cells expressing mCRF-R2 and cfCRF-R2 yielded about 4- and 10-fold lower Ki values for SVG than for CRF (Table 2Go and Fig. 3Go). The cells expressing cfCRF-R2 demonstrated similar affinities for UI and CRF, whereas COS-7 cells expressing the mCRF-R2 bound UI with approximately 3-fold lower Ki than when binding to CRF. CRF, UI, and SVG increased cAMP accumulation in COS-7 cells transfected with mCRF-R2 with EC50 values of 1.2 ± 0.9, 0.5 ± 0.2, and 0.7 ± 0.4 nM, respectively; the corresponding values for cells expressing the cfCRF-R2 were 2.4 ± 0.3, 2.5 ± 0.2, and 0.7 ± 0.2 nM, respectively (Table 2Go). These data indicate that unlike in the mouse, UI binds and activates cfCRF-R2 less efficiently than SVG, but similarly to CRF.



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Figure 3. Binding of [125I]YQLS to mCRF-R2 (A) and cfCRF-R2 (B). Full-length cDNAs encoding mCRF-R2 and cfCRF-R2 cloned in pcDNA1 were transiently transfected in COS-7 cells using the diethylaminoethyl-dextran method. Competitions of the [125I]YQLS by increasing concentration of CRF ({square}), sauvagine ({triangleup}), or YQLS ({blacktriangleup}) were performed for 2 h at room temperature. Specific binding was computed and expressed as a percentage of maximal specific binding (%B/B0). Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. Each experiment was performed in triplicate for each peptide concentration tested.

 
COS-7 cells expressing the novel third receptor subtype, cfCRF-R3, showed an agonist-stimulated cAMP accumulation profile similar to that of cfCRF-R1. CRF, UI, and SVG were nearly equipotent in stimulating cAMP accumulation in cells expressing cfCRF-R3 with EC50 values of 0.6 ± 0.2, 0.7 ± 0.2, and 1.6 ± 0.6 nM, respectively (Table 2Go). Although both cfCRF-R1 and mCRF-R1 had minimal ligand selectivity with regard to this second messenger, significant differences were observed in competition binding assays using cells expressing the cfCRF-R3. The cfCRF-R3 had an approximately 4- to 5-fold higher affinity for CRF than for UI or SVG, i.e. Ki values were 1.4 ± 0.1, 6.5 ± 0.3, and 7.1 ± 1.3 nM, respectively (Table 2Go). The shorter form of cfCRF-R3, although missing 16 amino acids at the amino-terminus, increased cAMP accumulation to a level similar to that produced by the cfCRF-R3 with a longer amino-terminus (not shown).

Distinct tissue distribution patterns of the three catfish CRF receptors
Northern blot analysis of total RNA revealed the presence of high levels of cfCRF-R1 messenger RNA (mRNA) in brain (Fig. 4AGo), whereas cfCRF-R2 expression was seen predominantly in heart (Fig. 4BGo). Using the same hybridization condition as that described above, no cfCRF-R3 transcript was detected in the tissues tested. However, the use of a more sensitive hybridization system produced a distinct hybridization signal in brain and heart (Fig. 4CGo). The size of cfCRF-R3 mRNA was significantly smaller (~3 kb) than those of cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R2 (>7 kb).



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Figure 4. Tissue distribution of the three catfish CRF receptor transcripts. Northern blot analysis was performed on total RNA (20 µg) isolated from brain (B), heart (H), spleen (S), liver (L), and gut (G). Full-length cDNAs of the three catfish receptors were randomly labeled with [32P]deoxy-CTP. Note the high level of cfCRF-R1 in brain (A) and of cfCRF-R2 in heart (B). A commercial hybridization buffer system (QuickHyb, Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) with increased sensitivity was used to detect cfCRF-R3 mRNA signal in brain and heart (C).

 
In situ hybridizations were performed on tissue sections from brain, pituitary, heart, liver, and gut. No expression was detected in liver and gut with the three probes tested. The cfCRF-R1 mRNA was widely distributed in brain, with the highest expression in the granular layer of the corpus and valvula cerebelli (Fig. 5Go) and in distinct hypothalamic circumventricular structures such as paraventricular organ (Fig. 6AGo) and posterior recess organ (Fig. 6BGo). In addition, expression of cfCRF-R1 was seen throughout other circumventricular structures such as nucleus recess posteriosus and succus vasculosus (SV; not shown). Moderate expression was seen in the intermediate lobe nuclei (Fig. 6AGo) and facial and vagal lobes (not shown), which are involved in gustatory functions (29). Low levels of cfCRF-R1 expression were also detected in telencephalic structures (not shown). Sense probe hybridization was included in each experiment and produced no signals in adjacent sections of the areas mentioned above.



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Figure 5. Distribution of CRF receptor mRNA in catfish brain and pituitary gland detected by in situ hybridization. For cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R3, 500 bp of an 35S-labeled probe encoding the last two TMs and carboxyl-terminal regions of cDNA were used (80% similarity between the two). The cfCRF-R2 probe used (~500 bp) encodes part of the NT and first transmembrane sequences. Coronal section (12 µm) of catfish brain were probed for the three CRF receptor mRNAs. Sense probes of all three cDNAs were made and used as negative controls (not shown). The catfish cerebellum is located above the midregion of the brain and is divided into corpus (CC) and valvula (VC) regions, as shown on brightfield (BF) image in the left panel. Note the complementary expression of cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R2 in the inner granular and the outer molecular layers, respectively. A high level of cfCRF-R3 expression was detected in the pituitary gland (P) located in the ventral portion of the midbrain.

 


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Figure 6. Distribution of CRF receptor in the diencephalic region of the catfish brain. A, Ventral portions of the diencephalic region are shown here. Note the expression of cfCRF-R1 in the ventral half of the inferior lobe (IL) in contrast to the dorsal portion of cfCRF-R3 expression in IL. The paraventricular organ (PVO) also exhibits high levels of cfCRF-R1. Two hypothalamic nuclei, the nucleus preopticus (NPO) and the nucleus suprachiasmaticus (NSC), express cfCRF-R2. B, Coronal section of catfish brain caudal to those shown in A. Arrows indicate the mRNA signal for cfCRF-R1 (PRO, posterior recess organ), cfCRF-R2 (NLT, nucleus lateral tubularis), and cfCRF-R3 (NAT, nucleus anterior tuberis). The locations of the signal for each receptor subtype (1, cfCRF-R1; 2, cfCRF-R2; 3, cfCRF-R3) are indicated in the brightfield in the top right panel. Negative controls on adjacent sections hybridized with a sense cfCRF-R1 probe are shown in the bottom two panels.

 
The cfCRF-R2 mRNA was most abundantly expressed in the atrium of the heart (Fig. 7AGo), and its mRNA distribution in brain correlated well with that of the mammalian CRF-R2. The transcript was detected over the myocytes, but not over the epicardium or the vessel walls. In brain, cfCRF-R2 exhibited high expression in two hypothalamic nuclei that are known to extend their axonal termini near the pituitary stalk (30, 31, 32), namely the nucleus preopticus and the nucleus lateral tubularis (Fig. 6Go, A and B). In the cerebellum, cfCRF-R2 was expressed in the distinct superficial molecular layer that surrounds the inner layer, where high levels of cfCRF-R1 and low levels cfCRF-R3 mRNA signals were detected (Fig. 5Go).



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Figure 7. A, In situ hybridization showing high levels of cfCRF-R2 expression in the atrium (A), but not the ventricle (V), of the heart. No atrial signal was observed in the sense control section (not shown). A 20-fold higher magnification of the boxed area (bottom panel, arrow) shows the silver grains overlying the atrial myocytes. B, Silver grains are seen overlying the neurosecretory cells of the urophysis (middle panel, arrows) demonstrating expression of cfCRF-R3. The strong bright line on the dorsal side of the tissue is a nonspecific edge effect caused by the darkfield condenser, and it is seen in all the sections, including sense controls. The bottom panel shows a 20-fold higher magnification of the boxed region of the urophysis from the top panel, showing the silver grains (arrows) of cfCRF-R3 signals.

 
The most abundant cfCRF-R3 mRNA was detected in the pituitary gland, which showed minimal cfCRF-R1 expression (Fig. 3Go). This novel receptor was also expressed in cell bodies of distinct neurosecretory cells terminating in the urophysis (Fig. 7BGo). Expression of cfCRF-R3 was generally low in brain; however, unique distribution patterns for cfCRF-R3 mRNA were observed in areas such as the intermediate lobe (Fig. 6AGo), which is thought to mediate gustatory function, and the posterior hypothalamic nucleus and nucleus anterior tubularis (Fig. 6BGo). These areas do not express either cfCRF-R1 or cfCRF-R2.


    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
This paper reports the identification of three distinct CRF receptor subtypes from a diploid catfish species. The cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R2 demonstrate a high homology to their mammalian and Xenopus counterparts, and both catfish receptors show analogous tissue distribution patterns, as reported in mammals and Xenopus. The novel cfCRF-R3, which structurally resembles cfCRF-R1, is derived from a distinct gene and exhibits a distinct tissue distribution pattern.

The stress response system in teleost fish is similar to that in mammals in that it consists of two components: the brain-sympathetic-chromaffin cell axis, which is equivalent to the brain-sympathetic adrenomedullary system, and the brain-pituitary-interrenal axis, which is equivalent to the brain-pituitary-adrenal axis (33). In fish, pituitary ACTH and other POMC peptides are regulated by factors released in the hypothalamus as in other vertebrates. CRF and UI exert ACTH-stimulating action on the pituitary (34, 35, 36), yet until now no receptors have been identified for either of these ligands in fish. Both CRF and UI have been reported to coexist in the hypothalamic region of the fish brain (37). A recent study on rainbow trout demonstrated an increase in CRF mRNA- positive perikarya in the preoptic nucleus when the fish were stressed by confinement (8). However, the physiological significance of CRF and UI has yet to be determined.

In teleost fish, the hypothalamic control of hypophyseal cells is known to be mediated by the hypophysiotropic neurons, which directly innervate the cells of the pituitary gland (38). In addition to the hypothalamic-hypophyseal system, fish possess an additional neurosecretory organ, the urophysis (39), which has been implicated in osmoregulation, in the maintenance of ionic balance, and in reproduction (39). UI was isolated from the urophysis of several fish species, such as sucker fish (40) and carp (9). Its roles in vasodilation (39) and osmoregulation (41) have been previously demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo; however, the role of UI in pituitary ACTH release has only been shown in vitro (34, 35), and the precise role of this peptide in fish physiology remains to be established.

To investigate the potential sites of CRF and UI action in catfish, we conducted a Northern blot and in situ hybridization analysis to identify the tissues that express cfCRF receptors.

CRF-R1 was the predominant subtype expressed in catfish brain, and its expression was widely distributed. The relatively large size and the well described anatomical structure of the catfish brain (29, 31, 42) facilitated detailed anatomical analysis of the distribution of this and other receptor subtypes. The highest cfCRF-R1 mRNA was detected in the cerebellum, where mammalian CRF-R1 is also abundantly expressed (16, 43). Relatively high cfCRF-R1 expression was also detected throughout highly vascularized circumventricular organs, such as the paraventricular organ, the posterior recess organ, the nucleus recess posteriosus, and succus vasculosus. No expression of CRF-R1 has been reported in the similar circumventricular structures in mammalian brain. In contrast, CRF-R2 is highly expressed in the choroid plexus of mammalian brain (43, 44) which could be considered equivalent to the circumventricular structures in catfish. In the catfish brain, expression of cfCRF-R2 was limited to the molecular layer of the cerebellum and the major hypothalamic nuclei in nucleus lateral tubularis and nucleus preopticus, where high levels of CRF mRNA and immunoreactivity (30, 45) and moderate levels of UI mRNA were reported (6). The most abundant transcript of cfCRF-R2 was detected in the atrium of the heart, which correlates well with that reported for mammalian and Xenopus CRF-R2 (17, 20, 21, 22). The cfCRF-R3 was minimally expressed in the catfish brain; however, distinct mRNA signals for this receptor subtype were identified in the hypothalamic regions, where neither cfCRF-R1 nor cfCRF-R2 mRNA was detected except in the SV. The SV located adjacent to the pituitary gland expresses high level of all three cfCRF receptors. The population of nuclei in the intermediate lobe that express cfCRF-R3 was also distinct from the nuclei that express cfCRF-R1. These results suggest an independent gene expression system for this novel third CRF receptor.

CRF-R1 is the major form of CRF receptor expressed in the pituitary gland of both rodent and Xenopus species. Physiological, molecular, and pharmacological manipulation of the receptor suggest that hypothalamic CRF exerts its action through the pituitary CRF-R1 to stimulate ACTH release and, consequently, glucocorticoid production from the adrenal cortex (46, 47, 48). Recently, however, CRF-R2 was also found to be expressed in the primate pituitary (43). This implies a role for this receptor subtype in controlling pituitary ACTH release and suggests that the control of ACTH release may be more complicated than previously believed. Interestingly, in catfish, cfCRF-R3 was found to be the dominant subtype expressed in the pituitary. This suggests that the third CRF receptor subtype, cfCRF-R3, may be important for the secretion of POMC peptides in fish. The importance of this novel CRF receptor subtype in catfish neuroendocrine physiology is also supported by its expression in urophyseal neurosecretory cells.

In contrast to their distinct structure and anatomical distribution pattern, cfCRF-R1 and cfCRF-R3 demonstrated only small differences in ligand binding properties. No significant differences were observed in the stimulation of cAMP accumulation by CRF, UI, and SVG. The cfCRF-R3 bound CRF with approximately 5-fold higher affinity than UI and SVG. The cfCRF-R1, however, bound these three ligands with similar affinity, which is consistent with the binding properties reported for the mammalian CRF-R1 (14, 16, 19). The functional characterization of cfCRF-R2 combined with its structural homology indicate that this receptor subtype is clearly a catfish homologue of the mammalian CRF-R2. However, SVG is more potent in cfCRF-R2 than mCRF-R2, whereas UI is more potent in mCRF-R2 than cfCRF-R2. The fact that SVG is the most potent ligand for cfCRF-R2 raises the possibility that the catfish may express an as yet unidentified SVG-like peptide. It is interesting to note that the Ki values observed in this study for CRF-R2 are higher than those reported in the literature. The high Ki values could result from the high binding affinity of the radioligand used; this increases the concentration of other peptides required for half-maximal competition. Additionally, apparent binding Kd values in intact COS-7 cells were higher than those measured in stably transfected cell lines (25, 49). The decreased binding affinity in transiently transfected COS-7 cells may reflect binding to receptors that are not coupled to the G protein-coupled receptor(s).

All three catfish CRF receptors, despite their sequence variation in the amino-terminal domains, possess 5 or more potential N-linked glycosylation sites and 6 conserved cystein residues. One of the splice variants for cfCRF-R3 that lacks 16 amino acids but retains all of the glycosylation sites and cystein residues in its amino-terminus, was well expressed and functioned as well as the longer cfCRF-R3 splice variant. These results suggest that sequence variations in the amino-terminal domain are relatively well tolerated. Interestingly, however, a human CRF-R1 splice variant with a 40-amino acid deletion in the amino-terminal domain, which lacked several cystein residues, failed to bind [125I]ovine CRF with high affinity (50). This indicates that the number of cysteine residues in the NT may be critical for proper folding and positioning of the molecule within the cell membrane.

In summary, we have cloned two CRF receptors from the catfish that are highly homologous to their mammalian counterparts. In addition, we have isolated a third novel CRF receptor that is distinct from the other two receptor subtypes. The cfCRF-R3, which bound CRF with higher affinity than UT and SVG, was highly expressed in the catfish pituitary and moderately in the urophysis. The presence of a third CRF receptor subtype in a diploid catfish species has an important evolutional significance, and it appears possible that the genomes of other species, such as mammals, contain additional, as yet uncharacterized genes that encode other CRF receptor subtypes. Alternatively, catfish may represent a unique evolutionary species in which the biological effects of CRF and UI are mediated by three distinct CRF/UI receptors.


    Acknowledgments
 
We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Wylie Vale for providing the mCRF-R2ß cDNA. We thank Drs. Harald Jüppner, Mansur Shomali, and Louise Williams for their critical reading of the manuscript. We also thank David Rubin for helpful advice and stimulating discussions.


    Footnotes
 
1 The nucleotide sequences reported in this paper have been submitted to the GenBank database with accession numbers cfCRF-R1, AF229359; cfCRF-R2, AF229360; and cfCRF-R3, AF229361. Back

2 This work was supported by NIDDK Grant 45020–04A1 from the NIH. Back

Received May 10, 2000.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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