Dataset Information

AgRP and POMC neurons are hypophysiotropic and coordinately regulate multiple endocrine axes in a larval teleost.

ABSTRACT: Plasticity in growth and reproductive behavior is found in many vertebrate species, but is common in male teleost fish. Typically, "bourgeois" males are considerably larger and defend breeding territories while "parasitic" variants are small and use opportunistic breeding strategies. The P locus mediates this phenotypic variation in Xiphophorus and encodes variant alleles of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R). However, deletion of the MC4R has modest effects on somatic growth and reproduction in mammals, suggesting a fundamental difference in the neuroendocrine function of central melanocortin signaling in teleosts. Here we show in a teleost that the hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin and AgRP neurons are hypophysiotropic, projecting to the pituitary to coordinately regulate multiple pituitary hormones. Indeed, AgRP-mediated suppression of MC4R appears essential for early larval growth. This identifies the mechanism by which the central melanocortin system coordinately regulates growth and reproduction in teleosts and suggests it is an important anatomical substrate for evolutionary adaptation.

SUBMITTER: Zhang C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3332529 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

AgRP and POMC neurons are hypophysiotropic and coordinately regulate multiple endocrine axes in a larval teleost.

Zhang Chao C Forlano Paul M PM Cone Roger D RD

Cell metabolism 20120112 2

Plasticity in growth and reproductive behavior is found in many vertebrate species, but is common in male teleost fish. Typically, "bourgeois" males are considerably larger and defend breeding territories while "parasitic" variants are small and use opportunistic breeding strategies. The P locus mediates this phenotypic variation in Xiphophorus and encodes variant alleles of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R). However, deletion of the MC4R has modest effects on somatic growth and reproduction in ...[more]

PMID: 22245570

Similar Datasets

Project description:Some pathological conditions with feeding pattern alterations, including obesity and Huntington disease (HD) are associated with hypothalamic dysfunction and neuronal cell death. Additionally, the hypothalamus is a neurogenic region with the constitutive capacity to generate new cells of neuronal lineage, in adult rodents. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the expression of feeding-related neuropeptides in hypothalamic progenitor cells and their capacity to differentiate to functional neurons which have been described to be affected by hypothalamic dysfunction. Our study shows that hypothalamic progenitor cells from rat embryos grow as floating neurospheres and express the feeding-related neuropeptides Neuropeptide Y (NPY), Agouti-related Protein (AGRP), Pro-OpioMelanocortin (POMC), Cocaine-and-Amphetamine Responsive Transcript (CART) and Orexin-A/Hypocretin-1. Moreover the relative mRNA expression of NPY and POMC increases during the expansion of hypothalamic neurospheres in proliferative conditions.Mature neurons were obtained from the differentiation of hypothalamic progenitor cells including NPY, AGRP, POMC, CART and Orexin-A positive neurons. Furthermore the relative mRNA expression of NPY, CART and Orexin-A increases after the differentiation of hypothalamic neurospheres. Similarly to the adult hypothalamic neurons the neurospheres-derived neurons express the glutamate transporter EAAT3. The orexigenic and anorexigenic phenotype of these neurons was identified by functional response to ghrelin and leptin hormones, respectively. This work demonstrates the presence of appetite-related neuropeptides in hypothalamic progenitor cells and neurons obtained from the differentiation of hypothalamic neurospheres, including the neuronal phenotypes that have been described by others as being affected by hypothalamic neurodegeneration. These in vitro models can be used to study hypothalamic progenitor cells aiming a therapeutic intervention to mitigate feeding dysfunction that are associated with hypothalamic neurodegeneration.

Dataset Information

AgRP and POMC neurons are hypophysiotropic and coordinately regulate multiple endocrine axes in a larval teleost.

Publications

AgRP and POMC neurons are hypophysiotropic and coordinately regulate multiple endocrine axes in a larval teleost.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets