Abstract
The melanocortin-3-receptor (MC3R) plays an important role in mammals’ food intake and energy homeostasis. However, its physiological role in bony fishes, such as grass carp, has not been well understood. This study reports the molecular cloning, tissue distribution, and pharmacological characterization of grass carp melanocortin-3-receptor (ciMC3R). Phylogenetic and chromosomal synteny analyses indicated that ciMC3R was closest to cyprinid fishes in evolution. Quantitative PCR experiments revealed that the mRNA of ciMC3R was highly expressed in the brain of grass carp. The cytological function of ciMC3R was investigated by the co-transfection of pcDNA3.1-ciMC3R and the signal-pathway-specific luciferase into the HEK293T cells. Results revealed that the four agonists, α-MSH, β-MSH, ACTH, and NDP-MSH, potentiate the activation of ciMC3R and further increase the production of cAMP and upregulate the MAPK/ERK signaling, respectively. Our study will provide basic data for exploring the physiological functions of grass carp MC3R, especially in energy homeostasis and food intake.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Ph. D Jishu Zhou for his help in the experiment.
Funding
This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2019YFD0900200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 36431502180), Shaanxi Provincial Water Conservancy Science and Technology Fund (No. 2016slkj-16), and Shaanxi Provincial Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Project.
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Conceptualization and funding acquisition: LW. Methodology: HY and YL. Resources: T P. C. E and ZZ. data analysis: MY and JY. Project administration: DX and HL. Writing—original draft preparation: HM. Writing—review and editing: LW and YL. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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The Faculty Animal Policy and Welfare Committee of Northwest A&F University under contract (NWAFU-314020038) approved this experiment. The experimental process complied with protocols of international guidelines for the ethical use of animals in research.
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Mo, H., Yu, H., Li, Y. et al. Molecular cloning and functional characterization of melanocortin-3 receptor in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). Fish Physiol Biochem 49, 155–167 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-022-01164-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-022-01164-3