Estrogen receptor-related receptors in mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi): Molecular cloning, characterization, and estrogen responsiveness

The estrogen-related receptors (ERRs), a group of nuclear receptors, are the first orphan receptor to be identified. In this study, six errs (err alpha, err beta, err gamma, err gamma A, err gamma B, err delta) were first cloned from the gonads of mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi). Gene cloning results showed the open reading frames (ORF) of both err alpha, err beta, err gamma, err gamma A, err gamma B, err delta were 1302 bp, 1434 bp, 1323 bp, 1566 bp and 1308 bp, coding a 432, 476, 439, 520, 434 and 337 amino acid (AA) peptide, respectively. Tissue distribution analysis showed that err alpha was relatively highly expressed in heart and muscle both in male and female and err gamma A was highly expressed in brain, stomach and muscle while the err gamma B was extremely highly expressed in heart and liver both in male and female. The err beta expressed relatively highly in medulla oblongata and gonad of male and female and kidney of male, while err gamma expressed relatively highly in stomach of male and female. Gonad expression pattern revealed that err alpha, err gamma, err gamma A and err gamma B were all detected from 5 to 180 day after hatching (dah) in both males and females, and err delta began to express after 60 dah. Moreover, err gamma, err gamma A and err gamma B were highly expressed in 5-10 dah while err alpha and err delta were mainly expressed in 60-180 dah. Furthermore, luciferase assay showed that err gamma could response to estrogen stimulation by modulating estrogen-signaling pathway in mandarin fish.

Automated summary

The study cloned six estrogen-related receptors (errs) from the gonads of mandarin fish and analyzed their expression patterns and functions.