Evidence that gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) functions as a prolactin-releasing factor in a teleost fish (Oreochromis mossambicus) and primary structures for three native GnRH molecules

in Journal of Endocrinology
Authors:
GM Weber
Search for other papers by GM Weber in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
JF Powell
Search for other papers by JF Powell in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
M Park
Search for other papers by M Park in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
WH Fischer
Search for other papers by WH Fischer in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
AG Craig
Search for other papers by AG Craig in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
JE Rivier
Search for other papers by JE Rivier in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
U Nanakorn
Search for other papers by U Nanakorn in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
IS Parhar
Search for other papers by IS Parhar in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
S Ngamvongchon
Search for other papers by S Ngamvongchon in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
EG Grau
Search for other papers by EG Grau in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
NM Sherwood
Search for other papers by NM Sherwood in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access
Rent on DeepDyve

Sign up for journal news

Three forms of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) are isolated and identified here by chemical sequence analysis for one species of tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, and by HPLC elution position for a second species of tilapia, O. mossambicus. Of the three GnRH forms in O. mossambicus, chicken GnRH-II (cGnRH-II) and sea bream GnRH (sbGnRH) are present in greater abundance in the brain and pituitary than salmon GnRH (sGnRH). These three native forms of GnRH are shown to stimulate the release of prolactin (PRL) from the rostral pars distalis (RPD) of the pituitary of O. mossambicus in vitro with the following order of potency: cGnRH-II > sGnRH > sbGnRH. In addition, a mammalian GnRH analog stimulated the release of PRL from the pituitary RPD incubated in either iso-osmotic (320 mosmol/l) or hyperosmotic (355 mosmol/l) medium, the latter normally inhibiting PRL release. The response of the pituitary RPD to GnRH was augmented by co-incubation with testosterone or 17 beta-estradiol. The effects of GnRH on PRL release appear to be direct effects on PRL cells because the RPD of tilapia contains a nearly homogeneous mass of PRL cells without intermixing of gonadotrophs. Our data suggest that GnRH plays a broad role in fish, depending on the species, by affecting not only gonadotropins and growth hormone, but also PRL.