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Godino-Gimeno A, Leal E, Chivite M, Tormos E, Rotllant J, Vallone D, Foulkes NS, Míguez JM, Cerdá-Reverter JM. Role of melanocortin system in the locomotor activity rhythms and melatonin secretion as revealed by agouti-signalling protein (asip1) overexpression in zebrafish. J Pineal Res 2024; 76:e12939. [PMID: 38241679 DOI: 10.1111/jpi.12939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Temporal signals such as light and temperature cycles profoundly modulate animal physiology and behaviour. Via endogenous timing mechanisms which are regulated by these signals, organisms can anticipate cyclic environmental changes and thereby enhance their fitness. The pineal gland in fish, through the secretion of melatonin, appears to play a critical role in the circadian system, most likely acting as an element of the circadian clock system. An important output of this circadian clock is the locomotor activity circadian rhythm which is adapted to the photoperiod and thus determines whether animals are diurnal or nocturnal. By using a genetically modified zebrafish strain known as Tg (Xla.Eef1a1:Cau.asip1)iim04, which expresses a higher level of the agouti signalling protein 1 (Asip1), an endogenous antagonist of the melanocortin system, we observed a complete disruption of locomotor activity patterns, which correlates with the ablation of the melatonin daily rhythm. Consistent with this, in vitro experiments also demonstrated that Asip1 inhibits melatonin secretion from the zebrafish pineal gland, most likely through the melanocortin receptors expressed in this gland. Asip1 overexpression also disrupted the expression of core clock genes, including per1a and clock1a, thus blunting circadian oscillation. Collectively, these results implicate the melanocortin system as playing an important role in modulating pineal physiology and, therefore, circadian organisation in zebrafish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Godino-Gimeno
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, Fish Neurobehaviour Lab, Castellon, Spain
| | - Esther Leal
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, Fish Neurobehaviour Lab, Castellon, Spain
| | - Mauro Chivite
- Laboratorio de Fisioloxía Animal, Departamento de Bioloxía Funcional e Ciencias da Saúde, Facultade de Bioloxía and Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
| | - Elisabeth Tormos
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, Fish Neurobehaviour Lab, Castellon, Spain
| | - Josep Rotllant
- Department of Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, IIM-CSIC, Vigo, Spain
| | - Daniela Vallone
- Institute of Biological and Chemical Systems-Biological Information Processing (IBCS-BIP), Department of Physiological Information Processing, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Nicholas S Foulkes
- Institute of Biological and Chemical Systems-Biological Information Processing (IBCS-BIP), Department of Physiological Information Processing, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Jesús M Míguez
- Laboratorio de Fisioloxía Animal, Departamento de Bioloxía Funcional e Ciencias da Saúde, Facultade de Bioloxía and Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
| | - Jose Miguel Cerdá-Reverter
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, Fish Neurobehaviour Lab, Castellon, Spain
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Godino-Gimeno A, Thörnqvist PO, Chivite M, Míguez JM, Winberg S, Cerdá-Reverter JM. Obesity Impairs Cognitive Function with No Effects on Anxiety-like Behaviour in Zebrafish. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:12316. [PMID: 37569692 PMCID: PMC10419065 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241512316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the last decade, the zebrafish has emerged as an important model organism for behavioural studies and neurological disorders, as well as for the study of metabolic diseases. This makes zebrafish an alternative model for studying the effects of energy disruption and nutritional quality on a wide range of behavioural aspects. Here, we used the zebrafish model to study how obesity induced by overfeeding regulates emotional and cognitive processes. Two groups of fish (n = 24 per group) were fed at 2% (CTRL) and 8% (overfeeding-induced obesity, OIO) for 8 weeks and tested for anxiety-like behaviour using the novel tank diving test (NTDT). Fish were first tested using a short-term memory test (STM) and then trained for four days for a long-term memory test (LTM). At the end of the experiment, fish were euthanised for biometric sampling, total lipid content, and triglyceride analysis. In addition, brains (eight per treatment) were dissected for HPLC determination of monoamines. Overfeeding induced faster growth and obesity, as indicated by increased total lipid content. OIO had no effect on anxiety-like behaviour. Animals were then tested for cognitive function (learning and memory) using the aversive learning test in Zantiks AD units. Results show that both OIO and CTRL animals were able to associate the aversive stimulus with the conditioned stimulus (conditioned learning), but OIO impaired STM regardless of fish sex, revealing the effects of obesity on cognitive processes in zebrafish. Obese fish did not show a deficiency in monoaminergic transmission, as revealed by quantification of total brain levels of dopamine and serotonin and their metabolites. This provides a reliable protocol for assessing the effect of metabolic disease on cognitive and behavioural function, supporting zebrafish as a model for behavioural and cognitive neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Godino-Gimeno
- Control of Food Intake Group, Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, 12595 Castellon, Spain;
| | - Per-Ove Thörnqvist
- Behavioural Neuroendocrinology, Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden (S.W.)
- Behavioural Neuroendocrinology, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, 751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mauro Chivite
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Laboratorio de Fisioloxía Animal, Departamento de Bioloxía Funcional e Ciencias da Saúde, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain; (M.C.)
| | - Jesús M. Míguez
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Laboratorio de Fisioloxía Animal, Departamento de Bioloxía Funcional e Ciencias da Saúde, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain; (M.C.)
| | - Svante Winberg
- Behavioural Neuroendocrinology, Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden (S.W.)
- Behavioural Neuroendocrinology, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, 751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - José Miguel Cerdá-Reverter
- Control of Food Intake Group, Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, 12595 Castellon, Spain;
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Rocha A, Godino-Gimeno A, Rotllant J, Cerdá-Reverter JM. Agouti-Signalling Protein Overexpression Reduces Aggressiveness in Zebrafish. Biology (Basel) 2023; 12:biology12050712. [PMID: 37237525 DOI: 10.3390/biology12050712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Feeding motivation plays a crucial role in food intake and growth. It closely depends on hunger and satiation, which are controlled by the melanocortin system. Overexpression of the inverse agonist agouti-signalling protein (ASIP) and agouti-related protein (AGRP) leads to enhanced food intake, linear growth, and weight. In zebrafish, overexpression of Agrp leads to the development of obesity, in contrast to the phenotype observed in transgenic zebrafish that overexpress asip1 under the control of a constitutive promoter (asip1-Tg). Previous studies have demonstrated that asip1-Tg zebrafish exhibit larger sizes but do not become obese. These fish display increased feeding motivation, resulting in a higher feeding rate, yet a higher food ration is not essential in order to grow larger than wild-type (WT) fish. This is most likely attributed to their improved intestinal permeability to amino acids and enhanced locomotor activity. A relationship between high feeding motivation and aggression has been previously reported in some other transgenic species showing enhanced growth. This study aims to elucidate whether the hunger observed in asip1-Tg is linked to aggressive behaviour. Dominance and aggressiveness were quantified using dyadic fights and mirror-stimulus tests, in addition to the analysis of basal cortisol levels. The results indicate that asip1-Tg are less aggressive than WT zebrafish in both dyadic fights and mirror-stimulus tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Rocha
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
| | - Alejandra Godino-Gimeno
- Control of Food Intake Group, Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, 12595 Castellon, Spain
| | - Josep Rotllant
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IIM-CSIC), 36208 Vigo, Spain
| | - José Miguel Cerdá-Reverter
- Control of Food Intake Group, Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC, 12595 Castellon, Spain
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Godino-Gimeno A, Sánchez E, Guillot R, Rocha A, Angotzi AR, Leal E, Rotllant J, Cerdá-Reverter JM. Growth Performance After Agouti-Signaling Protein 1 ( Asip1) Overexpression in Transgenic Zebrafish. Zebrafish 2020; 17:373-381. [PMID: 33112719 DOI: 10.1089/zeb.2020.1932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The melanocortin system is a key structure in the regulation of energy balance. Overexpression of inverse agonists, agouti-signaling protein (ASIP), and agouti-related protein (AGRP) results in increased food intake, linear growth, and body weight. ASIP regulates dorsal-ventral pigment polarity through melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) and overexpression induces obesity in mice by binding to central MC4R. Asip1 overexpression in transgenic zebrafish (asip1-Tg) enhances growth, yet experiments show fish overexpressing Asip1 do not develop obesity even under severe feeding regimes. Asip1-Tg fish do not need to eat more to grow larger and faster; thus, increased food efficiency can be observed. In addition, asip1-Tg fish reared at high density are able to grow far more than wild-type (WT) fish reared at low density, although asip1-Tg fish seem to be more sensitive to crowding stress than WT fish, thus making the melanocortin system a target for sustainable aquaculture, especially as the U.S. Food and Drug Association has recently approved transgenic fish trading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Godino-Gimeno
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
| | - Elisa Sánchez
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
| | - Raúl Guillot
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
| | - Ana Rocha
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Matosinhos, Portugal.,MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ESTM, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Peniche, Portugal
| | - Anna Rita Angotzi
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
| | - Esther Leal
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
| | - Josep Rotllant
- Department of Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, IIM-CSIC, Vigo, Spain
| | - José Miguel Cerdá-Reverter
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
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Abstract
Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) belongs to the opioid/orphanin gene family whose peptide precursors include either opioid (YGGF) or the orphanin/nociceptin core sequences (FGGF). In addition to POMC the family includes the proenkephalin (PENK), prodynorphin (PDYN), and nociceptin/proorphanin (PNOC) precursors. The opioid core sequence in POMC is incorporated by the β-endorphin that occupies the C-terminal region but this propeptide also exhibits at least two "alien" melanocortin core sequences (HFRW). An ACTH/MSH fragment merged into the opioid fragment not earlier than the two tetraploidizations of the vertebrate genome. Therefore, POMC exhibit a complex "evolutionary life" since the gene has coevolved together with two different receptor systems, i.e., opioid and melanocortin following a horse trading system. In this article, we summarize the different evolutionary hypotheses proposed for POMC evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Rocha
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Aquaculture from Torre la Sal (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
| | - Alejandra Godino-Gimeno
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Aquaculture from Torre la Sal (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain
| | - José Miguel Cerdá-Reverter
- Department of Fish Physiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Aquaculture from Torre la Sal (IATS-CSIC), Castellon, Spain..
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