TY - JOUR
T1 - A new relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide identified in the starfish Asterias amurensis
AU - Mita, Masatoshi
AU - Daiya, Misaki
AU - Haraguchi, Shogo
AU - Tsutsui, Kazuyoshi
AU - Nagahama, Yoshitaka
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - Relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP) of starfish Asterina pectinifera was the first invertebrate gonadotropin to have its chemical structure identified. However, it is unclear whether gonadotropic hormones in other species starfish are relaxin-like peptides. Thus, this study tried to identify the molecular structure of gonadotropic hormone in Asterias amurensis. As a result, we identified A. amurensis gonadotropic hormone as the RGP (AamRGP). The DNA sequence encoding AamRGP consisted of 330 base pairs with an open reading frame encoding a peptide of 109 amino acids (aa), including a signal peptide (26 aa), B-chain (20 aa), C-peptide (38 aa) and A-chain (25 aa). Comparing with A. pectinifera RGP (ApeRGP), the amino acid identity levels between AmaRGP and ApeRGP were 58% for the A-chain and 73% for the B-chain. Furthermore, chemical synthetic AamRGP induced gamete spawning and oocyte maturation in ovarian fragments of A. amurensis. In contrast, the ovary of A. pectinifera failed to respond to the AamRGP. This suggested that AamRGP is a new relaxin-like peptide.
AB - Relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP) of starfish Asterina pectinifera was the first invertebrate gonadotropin to have its chemical structure identified. However, it is unclear whether gonadotropic hormones in other species starfish are relaxin-like peptides. Thus, this study tried to identify the molecular structure of gonadotropic hormone in Asterias amurensis. As a result, we identified A. amurensis gonadotropic hormone as the RGP (AamRGP). The DNA sequence encoding AamRGP consisted of 330 base pairs with an open reading frame encoding a peptide of 109 amino acids (aa), including a signal peptide (26 aa), B-chain (20 aa), C-peptide (38 aa) and A-chain (25 aa). Comparing with A. pectinifera RGP (ApeRGP), the amino acid identity levels between AmaRGP and ApeRGP were 58% for the A-chain and 73% for the B-chain. Furthermore, chemical synthetic AamRGP induced gamete spawning and oocyte maturation in ovarian fragments of A. amurensis. In contrast, the ovary of A. pectinifera failed to respond to the AamRGP. This suggested that AamRGP is a new relaxin-like peptide.
KW - Coding-DNA sequence
KW - Gamete spawning
KW - Relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide
KW - Species-specificity
KW - Starfish Asterias amurensis
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ygcen.2015.07.002
DO - 10.1016/j.ygcen.2015.07.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 26163025
AN - SCOPUS:84960456746
SN - 0016-6480
VL - 222
SP - 144
EP - 149
JO - General and Comparative Endocrinology
JF - General and Comparative Endocrinology
ER -