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Submitted on December 23, 2002
Accepted on March 31, 2003
1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Japan; Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan; Division of Biodiversity, Noto Marine Laboratory, Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan; Department of Biology, School of Education, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sbstana{at}ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp.
Anuran amphibians have a special organ called the endolymphatic sac, containing many calcium carbonate crystals, which is believed to have a calcium storage function. The major protein of aragonitic otoconia, otoconin-22, which is considered to be involved in the formation of calcium carbonate crystals, has been purified from the saccule of the Xenopus inner ear. In this study, we cloned a cDNA encoding otoconin-22 from the cDNA library constructed for the paravertebral lime sac (PVLS) of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana, and sequenced it. The bullfrog otoconin-22 encoded a protein consisting of 147 amino acids, including a signal peptide of 20 amino acids. The protein had cysteine residues identical in a number and position to those conserved among the secretory phospholipase A2 family. The mRNA of bullfrog otoconin-22 was expressed in the endolymphatic sacs (ELS), including the PVLS and the inner ear. This study also revealed the presence of calcitonin receptor (CTR)-like protein in the ELS, with the putative seven transmembrane domains of the G protein-coupled receptors. The ultimobranchialectomy induced a prominent decrease in the otoconin-22 mRNA levels of the bullfrog PVLS. Supplementation of the ultimobranchialectomized bullfrogs with synthetic salmon calcitonin elicited a significant increase in the mRNA levels of the sac. These findings suggest that calcitonin secreted from the ultimobranchial gland, regulates expression of bullfrog otoconin-22 mRNA via CTR-like protein on the ELS, thereby stimulating the formation of calcium carbonate crystals in the lumen of the ELS.
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