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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 295/2/E477    most recent 90386.2008v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Jiang, Q. Articles by Wong, A. O. L. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jiang, Q. Articles by Wong, A. O. L.

Grass carp somatolactin: II. Pharmacological study on postreceptor signaling mechanisms for PACAP-induced somatolactin- and -β gene expression

Endocrinology Division, School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Submitted 22 April 2008 ; accepted in final form 29 May 2008

Somatolactin (SL), the latest member of the growth hormone/prolactin family, is a novel pituitary hormone with diverse functions. However, the signal transduction mechanisms responsible for SL expression are still largely unknown. Using grass carp as an animal model, we examined the direct effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) on SL gene expression at the pituitary level. In primary cultures of grass carp pituitary cells, SL and SLβ mRNA levels could be elevated by PACAP via activation of PAC-I receptors. With the use of a pharmacological approach, the AC/cAMP/PKA and PLC/inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP₃)/PKC pathways and subsequent activation of the Ca²⁺/calmodulin (CaM)/CaMK-II cascades were shown to be involved in PACAP-induced SL mRNA expression. Apparently, the downstream Ca²⁺/CaM-dependent cascades were triggered by extracellular Ca²⁺ ([Ca²⁺]_e) entry via L-type voltage-sensitive Ca²⁺ channels (VSCC) and Ca²⁺ release from IP₃-sensitive intracellular Ca²⁺ stores. In addition, the VSCC component could be activated by cAMP/PKA- and PLC/PKC-dependent mechanisms. Similar postreceptor signaling cascades were also observed for PACAP-induced SLβ mRNA expression, except that [Ca²⁺]_e entry through VSCC, PKC coupling to PLC, and subsequent activation of CaMK-II were not involved. These findings, taken together, provide evidence for the first time that PACAP can induce SL and SLβ gene expression in fish model via PAC-I receptors through differential coupling to overlapping and yet distinct signaling pathways.

pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide; grass carp pituitary cells