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Effects of Chronic Cortisol Administration on Global Expression of GR and the Liver Transcriptome in Sparus aurata

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Abstract

The present work was designed to assess the effects of artificially increased high plasma cortisol levels induced by slow-release cortisol implants on the mRNA abundance of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in different organs of Sparus aurata (Gilthead sea bream), as well as to evaluate global transcriptional changes in the liver, using the Aquagenomics S. aurata oligo-nucleotide microarray technology. For that purpose, groups of fish were intraperitoneally injected with implants containing two different concentrations of cortisol (50 or 200 μg/g body weight). Blood and organs were sampled after 7 and 14 days of cortisol implantation. Only fish with 200 μg/g implants exhibited a significant rise in plasma cortisol. Thus, we evaluated the expression of the GR in different organs in these fish 7 and 14 days post-implantation. GR mRNA abundance was upregulated in head kidney and heart of fish at both sampling times. In liver and muscle, GR mRNA abundance was upregulated after 14 days, whereas in gills, the GR mRNA transcript was upregulated earlier, at day 7. These results suggest that increased plasma cortisol induced by a slow-release implant of cortisol mimics the overall effects of stress and affects the expression of GR mRNA in a time- and organ-specific manner. Data obtained with the Aquagenomics S. aurata oligo-nucleotide microarray allowed the identification of a total of 491 cortisol-responsive transcripts and highlight the strong intensity of transcriptional modulation in liver of fish implanted with cortisol after 7 days, in contrast to that observed at day 14. Transcriptional remodeling highlighted a significant activity in carbohydrate metabolism mainly in the gluconeogenic pathway linked to downregulation of inflammatory and immune response processes in implanted fish.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Plan Nacional de Investigación (BFU2009-07354, and Consolider-Aquagenomics (CSD 2007-00002), Government of Spain. Financial support to Mariana Teles provided by FCT (SFRH/BPD/34449/2006, Government of Portugal) and (JCI-2010-06509 Government of Spain) is thankfully acknowledged. Thanks are also given to Roger Traveset, Pilar Tudela, and Neus Riuet for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Mariana Teles, Sebastian Boltaña, Felipe Reyes-López & Simon Mackenzie

  2. Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Sebastian Boltaña & Lluis Tort

  3. CESAM & Biology Department, Aveiro University, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Maria Ana Santos

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  1. Mariana Teles
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  2. Sebastian Boltaña
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  3. Felipe Reyes-López
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  4. Maria Ana Santos
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  5. Simon Mackenzie
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  6. Lluis Tort
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Correspondence to Mariana Teles.

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Teles, M., Boltaña, S., Reyes-López, F. et al. Effects of Chronic Cortisol Administration on Global Expression of GR and the Liver Transcriptome in Sparus aurata . Mar Biotechnol 15, 104–114 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-012-9467-y

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