Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide induces somatolactin release from cultured goldfish pituitary cells

Estrogen mediates sex differences in preoptic neuropeptide and pituitary hormone production in medaka

The preoptic area (POA) is one of the most evolutionarily conserved regions of the vertebrate brain and contains subsets of neuropeptide-expressing neurons. Here we found in the teleost medaka that two neuropeptides belonging to the secretin family, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (Pacap) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (Vip), exhibit opposite patterns of sexually dimorphic expression in the same population of POA neurons that project to the anterior pituitary: Pacap is male-biased, whereas Vip is female-biased. Estrogen secreted by the ovary in adulthood was found to attenuate Pacap expression and, conversely, stimulate Vip expression in the female POA, thereby establishing and maintaining their opposite sexual dimorphism. Pituitary organ culture experiments demonstrated that both Pacap and Vip can markedly alter the expression of various anterior pituitary hormones. Collectively, these findings show that males and females use alternative preoptic neuropeptides to regulate anterior pituitary hormones as a result of their different estrogen milieu.

Endocrine regulation of prolactin cell function and modulation of osmoreception in the Mozambique tilapia

Prolactin (PRL) cells of the Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, are osmoreceptors by virtue of their intrinsic osmosensitivity coupled with their ability to directly regulate hydromineral homeostasis through the actions of PRL. Layered upon this fundamental osmotic reflex is an array of endocrine control of PRL synthesis and secretion. Consistent with its role in fresh water (FW) osmoregulation, PRL release in tilapia increases as extracellular osmolality decreases. The hyposmotically-induced release of PRL can be enhanced or attenuated by a variety of hormones. Prolactin release has been shown to be stimulated by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), 17-β-estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain-natriuretic peptide (BNP), C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), ventricular natriuretic peptide (VNP), PRL-releasing peptide (PrRP), angiotensin II (ANG II), leptin, insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), ghrelin, and inhibited by somatostatin (SS), urotensin-II (U-II), dopamine, cortisol, ouabain and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). This review is aimed at providing an overview of the hypothalamic and extra-hypothalamic hormones that regulate PRL release in euryhaline Mozambique tilapia, particularly in the context on how they may modulate osmoreception, and mediate the multifunctional actions of PRL. Also considered are the signal transduction pathways through which these secretagogues regulate PRL cell function.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) stimulates release of somatolactin (SL)-α and SL-β from cultured goldfish pituitary cells via the PAC₁ receptor-signaling pathway, and affects the expression of SL-α and SL-β mRNAs

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide that stimulates the release of adenohypophyseal hormone from the pituitary in fish. In the goldfish, PACAP induces the release of somatolactin (SL), in particular, from cultured pituitary cells. SL belongs to the growth hormone and prolactin family, and comprises two molecular variants termed SL-α and SL-β in goldfish. However, there is no information about the involvement of PACAP in the regulation of SL-α and SL-β release and the expression of their mRNAs. Therefore, we examined the effect of PACAP on SL-α and SL-β release from cultured goldfish pituitary cells. Treatment with PACAP (10(-10)-10(-7)M) increased the release of both SL-α and SL-β. The stimulatory action of PACAP (10(-9)M) on SL-α and SL-β release was blocked by treatment with a PACAP-selective receptor (PAC1R) antagonist, PACAP(6-38) (10(-6)M). We also examined whether PACAP affects the expression of SL-α and SL-β mRNAs in cultured pituitary cells. Treatment with PACAP (10(-9) and 10(-8)M) for 6h decreased the expression level of SL-α mRNA but increased that of SL-β mRNA. The action of PACAP (10(-8)M) on SL-β mRNA expression was blocked by treatment with PACAP(6-38) (10(-6)M), whereas PACAP(6-38) elicited no change in the expression of SL-α mRNA. These results indicate that in cultured goldfish pituitary cells, PACAP stimulates the release of SL-α and SL-β, and expression of SL-β mRNA, via the PAC1R-signaling pathway. However, the mechanism whereby PACAP inhibits the expression of SL-α mRNA does not seem to be mediated by PAC1R signaling.

The octadecaneuropeptide stimulates somatolactin release from cultured goldfish pituitary cells

The present study aimed to investigate the distribution of the octadecaneuropeptide (ODN) in the goldfish brain and to look for a possible effect of ODN on somatolactin (SL) release from pituitary cells. A discrete population of ODN-immunoreactive neurones was localised in the lateral part of the nucleus lateralis tuberis. These neurones sent projections through the neurohypophyseal tract towards the neurohypophysis, and nerve fibres were seen in the close vicinity of SL-producing cells in the pars intermedia. Incubation of cultured goldfish pituitary cells with graded concentrations of ODN (10(-9) -10(-5 ) m) induced a dose-dependent stimulation of SL-β, but not SL-α, release. ODN-evoked SL release was blocked by the metabotrophic endozepine receptor antagonist cyclo(1-8) [DLeu(5) ]OP but was not affected by the central-type benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil. ODN-induced SL release was suppressed by treatment with the phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor U-73122 but not with the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H-89. These results indicate that, in fish, ODN produced by hypothalamic neurones acts as a hypophysiotrophic neuropeptide stimulating SL release. The effect of ODN is mediated through a metabotrophic endozepine receptor positively coupled to the PLC/inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate/protein kinase C-signalling pathway.

Insulin-like growth factor as a novel stimulator for somatolactin secretion and synthesis in carp pituitary cells via activation of MAPK cascades

Somatolactin (SL), a member of the growth hormone/prolactin family, is a pituitary hormone unique to fish models. Although SL is known to have diverse functions in fish, the mechanisms regulating its secretion and synthesis have not been fully characterized. Using grass carp pituitary cells as a model, here we examined the role of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in SL regulation at the pituitary level. As a first step, the antisera for the two SL isoforms expressed in the carp pituitary, SLα and SLβ, were produced, and their specificity was confirmed by antiserum preabsorption and immunohistochemical staining in the carp pituitary. Western blot using these antisera revealed that grass carp SLα and SLβ could be N-linked glycosylated and their basal secretion and cell content in carp pituitary cells could be elevated by IGF-I and -II treatment. These stimulatory effects occurred with parallel rises in SLα and SLβ mRNA levels, and these SL gene expression responses were not mimicked by insulin but blocked by IGF-I receptor inactivation. In carp pituitary cells, IGF-I and -II could induce rapid phosphorylation of IGF-I receptor, MEK1/2, ERK1/2, MKK3/6, and p38 MAPK; and SLα and SLβ secretion, protein production, and mRNA expression caused by IGF-I and -II stimulation were negated by inactivating MEK1/2 and p38 MAPK. Parallel inhibition of PI3K and Akt, however, were not effective in these regards. These results, taken together, provide evidence that IGF can upregulate SL secretion and synthesis at the pituitary level via stimulation of MAPK- but not PI3K/Akt-dependent pathways.

Differential involvement of protein kinase C and protein kinase A in ghrelin-induced growth hormone and gonadotrophin release from goldfish (Carassius auratus) pituitary cells

Ghrelin (GRLN) and its receptor have been identified and characterised in goldfish brain and the pituitary, and recent evidence shows that goldfish (g)GRLN(19) induces both growth hormone (GH) and maturational gonadotrophin (LH) release through an extracellular Ca(2+) -dependent mechanism in goldfish. To further understand the role of GRLN in hormone release, the present study examined the involvement of protein kinase C (PKC) and protein kinase A (PKA) in gGRLN(19) -induced GH and LH release and corresponding Ca(2+) signals in primary cultures of goldfish pituitary cells. Treatments with PKC inhibitors, Bis-II and Gö 6976, significantly reduced gGRLN(19) -induced GH and LH release and their corresponding intracellular Ca(2+) signals in identified somatotrophs and gonadotrophs, respectively. gGRLN(19) was unable to further stimulate hormone release or Ca(2+) signals when cells were pretreated with the PKC agonist, DiC8. PKA inhibitors, H-89 and KT 5720, inhibited gGRLN(19) -induced LH release and Ca(2+) signals in gonadotrophs but not GH release or Ca(2+) signals in somatotrophs. Interestingly, pretreatment of pituitary cells with the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin potentiated gGRLN(19) -induced GH, but not LH, release, although it had no effect on intracellular Ca(2+) signals in either cell type. Taken together, the results suggest that PKC is an important intracellular component in gGRLN(19) -induced GH and LH release, whereas PKA is involved in gGRLN(19) -elicited LH release. Furthermore, the PKA pathway potentiates gGRLN(19) -induced GH release via a Ca(2+) -independent mechanism. Overall, the present study provides insight into the neuroendocrine regulation of GH and LH release by elucidating the mechanistic aspects of GRLN, a hormone involved in many critical physiological processes, including pituitary functions.