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Regulation of steroid production and key genes in catfish Heteropneustes fossilis using recombinant gonadotropins

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Abstract

The two gonadotropins, FSH and LH, stimulate growth and development of the gonads through gonadal biosynthesis of steroid hormones and growth factors. To date, cDNA sequences encoding gonadotropin subunits have been isolated and characterized from a large number of fish species. Recently, we successfully cloned and characterized gonadotropins (LHβ, FSHβ, and GPα) from the pituitary glands of the catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis. In the present study, we describe herein the production of recombinant stinging catfish, H. fossilis (hf) FSH (rhfFSH) and LH (rhfLH) using the methylotrophic yeast P. pastoris expression system. We further explored the hypothesis that the recombinant gonadotropins can modulate the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis genes (avt, it, gnrh2, kiss2, and cyp19a1a) and regulate their transcriptional profile and steroid levels in relation to their annual developmental stage during preparatory and pre-spawning phases under in-vitro conditions. We found that the different concentrations of recombinant rhfFSH and rhfLH significantly stimulated E2 levels in the preparatory and prespawning season, and also upregulated gonadal aromatase gene expression in a dose dependent manner. Our results demonstrate that the yeast expression system produced biologically active recombinant catfish gonadotropins, enabling the study of their function in the catfish.

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Abbreviations

E2 :

17β-Estradiol

T :

Testosterone

rhfLH :

Recombinant catfish luteinizing hormone

rhfFSH :

Recombinant catfish follicle stimulating hormone

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Acknowledgements

The University of the Sunshine Coast and AE hosted RC.

Funding

This research was supported by Indo-INSA Australia early carrier award and a partial funding of BHU-IOE to RC.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Marine Sciences, Ruppin Academic Center, Michmoret, Israel

    Joseph Aizen

  2. Department of Zoology, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    Sandhya Sharma & Radha Chaube

  3. Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia

    Abigail Elizur

  4. Department of Biotechnology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India

    K.P. Joy

Authors
  1. Joseph Aizen
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  2. Sandhya Sharma
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  3. Abigail Elizur
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  4. K.P. Joy
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  5. Radha Chaube
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Contributions

JA, RC, and AE designed and coordinated the study. JA, RC, and SS performed all experiments. JA and RC wrote the manuscript. All authors (JA, SS, KPJ, AE, and RC) reviewed, finalized, and edited the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph Aizen.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

All experimental procedures comply with the animal care and use guidelines of the Banaras Hindu University for experimentation of animals, and all care (permit no: 1802/GO/RE/S/15/CPCSEA) was taken to prevent cruelty of any kind.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Highlights

• Catfish recombinant LHβα and FSHβα production using a Pichia pastoris yeast expression system

• Follicular maturation shown to be season dependent with respect to rhfLH/rhfFSH

• 17β-Estradiol and testosterone production found to be stimulated by rhfLH/rhfFSH in a concentration dependent manner

• rhfLH/rhfFSH promotes differential expression of genes gnrh2, kiss2, avt, it, and cyp19a1a

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Aizen, J., Sharma, S., Elizur, A. et al. Regulation of steroid production and key genes in catfish Heteropneustes fossilis using recombinant gonadotropins. Fish Physiol Biochem 49, 911–923 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01230-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01230-4

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