Báo cáo khoa học: Cloning of two melanocortin (MC) receptors in spiny dogfish MC3 receptor in cartilaginous fish shows high affinity to ACTH-derived peptides while it has lower preference toc-MSH ppt
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Cloningoftwomelanocortin(MC)receptorsinspiny dogfish
MC3 receptorincartilaginous fish showshigh affinity toACTH-derived peptides
while ithaslowerpreferenceto c-MSH
Janis Klovins
1,2
, Tatjana Haitina
1
, Aneta Ringholm
1
, Maja Lo¨ wgren
1
, Davids Fridmanis
2
, Maija Slaidina
2
,
Susanne Stier
1
and Helgi B. Schio¨th
1
1
Department of Neuroscience, Unit of Pharmacology, Uppsala University, Sweden;
2
Biomedical Research and Study Centre,
University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
We report t he cloning and characterization oftwo melano-
cortin receptors (MCRs) from the spiny dogfish (Squalus
acanthias) (Sac). Phylo genetic analysis s hows t hat t hese
shark r eceptors are orthologues of the MC3R and MC5R
subtypes, sharing 65% and 70% overall amino acid identity
with the human coun terparts, respectively. The SacMC3R
was expressed and pharmacologically characterized in
HEK293 cells. T he radioligand b inding results show that this
receptor hashigh affinity for adrenocorticotropic hormone
(ACTH)-derived peptideswhileithas comparable affinity
for a-andb-melan ocyte stimulating hormone (MSH), and
slightly lower a ffinity for c-MSH when compared with the
human orthologue. ACTH(1–24) hashigh potency in a
second-messenger cAMP assay w hile a-andc-MSH had
slightly lower potency in cells expressing the SacMC3R. We
used receptor–enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP)
fusion to show the presence of SacMC3R in plasma
membrane of Chinese hamster ovary and HEK293 cells
but the S acMC5R was retained in intracellular compart-
ments of these cells hindering pharmacological characteri-
zation. The anatomical distribution of the receptors were
determined using reverse transcription PCR. The results
showed that the SacMC3R is expressed in t he hypo-
thalamus, brain stem and telencephalon, optic tectum and
olfactory bulbs, but not in the cerebellum o f the spiny
dogfish while the SacMC5R was found only in the same
central regions. This report describes the first molecular
characterization of a MC3R in fish. The study indicates that
many of the important elements of the MC system existed
before radiation of gnathostomes, early in vertebrate
evolution, at least 450 million years ago.
Keywords: A CTH; dogfish; melanocortin; MSH; POMC.
The melanocortin r eceptors (MCRs) are G-protein coupled
receptors (GPCRs) that belong to the large rhodopsin
subgroup [1]. MCRs respond to the pro-opiomelanocortin
(POMC) cleavage products: a-, b-andc-melanocyte
stimulating hormones (MSH) and adrenocorticotropic
hormone (ACTH), a ll o f which possessing agonistic prop-
erties towards MCRs. There are five subtypes of MCRs in
mammals and aves, named MC1R–MC5R (reviewed in
[2,3]). In m ammals, MC1R i s expressed in melanocyte s
and has an important role in determining skin a nd hair
pigmentation [4]. Expression of MC1R is also detected in
other skin cell t ypes and in a number of peripheral tissues,
including leukocytes, where it mediates the broad anti-
inflammatory actions of the m elanocortin p eptides [5].
MC2R is expressed in adrenal cortex, where it mediates the
effects o f ACTH on s teroid secretion. The mammalian
MC2R differs pharmacologically from the other MCRs as it
is activated only by ACTH and has no affinity for MSH
peptides [6]. Some expression of MC2R has been found in
human adipose tissue, but its role in this tissue is not clear .
MC3R and MC4R are expressed in several brain regions,
particularly in the hypothalamus. These receptors have
attracted much attention during recent years due to their
involvement in r egulation o f energy h omeostasis. M C4R is
one of the best-characterized monogenic factors o f obesity
and a number of mutations in this receptor are linked to
obese phenotypes in humans [7–9]. Although both receptors
are involved in regulation of e nergy balance, mice deficient
in one of these receptors display s eparate phenotypes
[10,11]. Knockout of MC3R causes an 50–60% increase
in adipose mass, but these mice do not become significantly
overweight [12]; t hey do, however, exhibit reduction in
locomotory behaviour suggesting reduced energy expendi-
ture. Mice lacking both MC3R a nd MC4R become
significantly heavier than MC4R knockout mice [11].
MC3R and MC4R have also differences in pharmacology:
MC3R has a unique preferen ce for c-MSH among different
subtypes of MCRs in mammals. MC5R is expressed in a
number of human peripheral tissues, including adr enal
gland, ad ipocytes and leukocytes [5]. The functional prop-
erties of MC5R are, however, still not well understood, with
Correspondence to H. B. Schio
¨
th, Department of Neuroscience,
Biomedical Center, Box 593, SE-75 124 Uppsala, Sweden.
Fax: +46 18 51 15 40, E-mail: helgis@bmc. uu.se
Abbreviations: MCR, melanocortin receptor; GPCR, G-protein cou-
pled receptor; POMC, pro-opiomelanocortin; MSH, melanocyte
stimulating hormones; ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone; EGFP,
enhanced green fluorescence protein; NDP-MSH, (Nle4,
D
-Phe7)-
a-MSH; EC
50
, 50% effective concentration; TM, transmembrane.
Note: J. Klovins and T. H aitina contributed e qually to this work.
(Received 2 5 May 2004, revised 27 August 2004,
accepted 22 September 2004)
Eur. J. Biochem. 271, 4320–4331 (2004) Ó FEBS 2004 doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.2004.04374.x
the e xception of its participation in exocrine function,
regulating sebaceous gland secretion in m ice [13]).
Understanding of how the energy balance is regulated in
vertebrates other than mammals is very important, both
from a global ecological and economic perspective consid-
ering the importance of growth rate of, for example, fish.
We have shown recently that MCRs exist in teleost fish
[14–16] and that MC4R plays an important role in
regulation of food intak e in teleosts [17,18]. Previously, we
also showed that the MC4Rs is likely to regulate food intake
in birds [19]. All five MCR subtypes can be found in teleosts,
such as zeb rafish, but there are still important differences in
the repertoire in teleosts as compared with that in mammals.
The zebrafish has six MCRs due to an additional copy of
the MC5R that, we have suggested, w ere created through a
lineage-specific tetraploidization within teleosts. Another
interesting difference is that the teleost Fugu has only four
MCRs as it is lacking an MC3R [15]. Moreove r, there are
some interesting differences in the pharmacology between
teleosts and m ammals. A CTH s eems to play a more
prominent role for the MCRs in Fugu as compared with
a-MSH, which has t he highest a ffinity to the four MSH
binding MCRs in mammals.
The spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias)isasharkthathas
become the most popular research object among cartilagin-
ous fishes (also called chondrichthyans). They arose from
the Agnatha, the jawless fishes, in the late Silurian period,
approximately 450 million years ago. The lineage leading
to cartilaginous fishes split from the lineage leading to
mammals p rior t he split of teleosts, a nd can thus be
considered in evolutionary term as ÔolderÕ species than the
teleosts. There are also other differences. The generation
time inspiny dogfish is fairly long among fish; 18 years as
compared with 1 year in zebrafish. Another difference is
that the chondrichthyans produce a relatively small number
of offspring [ 20]. According to genome duplication theory,
the first tetraploidization occurred before the divergence of
agnathans, but the second genome duplication took place in
the lineage leading to gnathostomes [ 21]. The t eleost fishes
however, are believed to have undergone another tetra-
ploidization [22] followed by subsequent large g enome
reorganizations. The teleosts have thus gained and lost
many gene copies, which may reflect the different numbers
of MCR genes i n the diffe rent teleost species. P OMC
peptides are well studied in dogfish [23,24] and the POMC
gene structure is more conservative than in any ray-finned
fishes. One of the major features of POMC in dogfish is that
it contains a c-MSH peptide, like in m ammals. M oreover,
two copies o f this gene are found in several ray-finned fish
species [25,26]. Notable is that the c-MSH region in ray-
finned fishes is quite variable a nd degenerate, e ither missing
the c-MSH core motif [27,28] or even t he complete c-MSH
sequence [29], and at the same time displaying a high level of
conservation in the a-, b-MSH and ACTH sequences. The
modern sharks and rays (Chondrichthyes) also contain a n
additional M SH sequence (d-MSH), which may be the
result of internal domain duplication of b-MSH sequence.
All of this together makes cartilaginous fishes particularly
interesting species, not only to understand the evolution of
the melanocortin system in other vertebrates, but also to
study functional features of MCRs. We have recently cloned
and characterized the MC4R gene from dogfish. The results
showed high conservation in sequence and pharmacology of
this receptorto its human counterpart [30] but it was not
known if cartilaginous fishes have other subtypes of the
MCRs.
We now report the cloning, expression, pharmacological
characterization, intrace llular localization and tissue distri-
bution of MC3R and MC5R in the spiny dogfish. These
receptors represent in evolutionary terms the most distant
receptor subtypes cloned so far. Moreover, the dogfish
MC3R is the first MC3R that has been pharmacologically
characterized in any ÔlowerÕ vertebrate.
Materials and methods
Cloning and sequencing
Genomic DNA was extracted from muscle tissue of spiny
dogfish captured in the North Sea (Hambergs Fisk,
Uppsala, Sweden). About 1 g of the muscle tissue w as
homogenized in lysis buffer [ 100 m
M
EDTA, 10 m
M
Tris,
1% (w/v) SDS] and centrifuged for 5 min at 11 500 g.The
supernatant was extracted with saturated phenol, phenol/
chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (25 : 24 : 1, v /v/v) and chloro-
form. The DNA was precipitated with 1 vol. isopropanol in
the presence of 1
M
NH
4
Ac and washed with 70% (v/v)
ethanol. Degenerate primers based on conserved parts of
the human, rat, mouse and chicken MC3, MC4 and MC5R
were used in a low stringency PCR with 1 00 ng of dogfish
genomic DNA. PCR was performed using the Taq DNA
polymerase (Invitrogen) i n a reaction volume of 20 lL,
containing 200 l
M
dNTP, 2 0 m
M
Tris/HCl pH 8.4, 50 m
M
KCl, 2 m
M
MgCl
2
and 20 pmol each primer. Touch-down
PCR was performed, starting with an initial 1 min 95 °C
denaturation, followed by 22 cycles of 45 s at 94 °C, 45 s
at 52 °Cto42°C, 90 s at 72 °C. This was followed b y 25
cycles of 30 s at 94 °C, 40 s at 50 °C, 1 min at 72 °C, w ith a
final extension of 5 min at 72 °C. The primer sequences
were 5 ¢-CAYTCNCCNATGTAYTTYTT-3¢ and 5¢-AT
NACIGARTTRCACATDAT-3¢. The degenerated posi-
tions were designed considering the conservation of the
MC3, MC4, MC5R sequences from human, mouse, rat and
chicken. PCR products were purified from 1% agarose gel
using Gel Extraction Kit and were cloned into pCRII vector
and t ransformed into TOP10 cells (TOPO TA-cloning k it,
Invitrogen). Sequencing r eactions were performed using
the A BI PRISM Big Dye Terminator c ycle sequencing
kit according to the manufactures recommendations
and a nalysed o n ABI PRIZM-310 or 3100 Automated
Sequencers (Applied Biosystems). Sequences were compiled
andalignedusingthe
SEQMAN
program from DNAstar
(Lasergene). Sequences were compared against database
assemblies using
BLASTN
and
BLASTX
.
Screening of a phage genomic library and isolation
of full-length gene
The spiny do gfish phage-DNA library made in kGEM-11
(Promega, Falkenberg, Sweden) with Escherichia coli
KW251 (Promega) as a host was kindly supplied by A.
Johnsen (Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, [31]). The
inserts in the phages were about 15–22 kb. Approximately
50 000 phages were plated out on each of 12 different 15 cm
Ó FEBS 2004 MC3 and MC5 receptorsofspiny dogfish (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 4321
Petri dishes (roughly three genome equivalents) and grown
at 37 °C for 8 h . Plaques were transferred to the nylon
transfer membrane (Amersham Biosciences, U ppsala, Swe-
den) and denatured for 1 min in 0.5
M
NaOH; 1.5
M
NaCl,
then neutralized for 5 min in 1
M
Tris/HCl pH 8.0, 1.5
M
NaCl and equilibrated in 2· NaCl/Cit. The filters were dried
and used for hybridization. PCR product from the obtained
MCR-like sequence was labelled with [
32
P]CTP[aP] using
the Megaprime Labeling System (Amersham Biosciences)
and used as a probe. Hybridization was carried out at 65 °C
in 25% (v/v) formamide (Merck Eurolab AB), 6· NaCl/Cit,
10% (w/v) dextran sulfate (Amersham Biosciences),
5· Denhardt’s s olution, and 0.1% SDS overnight. The
filters were washed five times in 0.2 · NaCl/Cit containing
0.1% ( w/v) S DS for 1 h at 65 °C. After exposure to
autoradiographic films, one positive signal was chosen fo r
further s election. T he procedure of s election and hybridiza-
tion was repeated until a single phage clone was i solated
(three times). The phage were g rown according to the
protocol and phage DNA was isolated using k-purification
kit ( Qiagen). Phage were sequenced as described above and
found t o c ontain M C5R-like sequence, which was different
from the probe s equence. We sequenced about 200 bp
upstream and 100 bp downstream f rom of t he coding
region, which did not include any introns.
Inverse PCR
S. acanthias genomic DNA was separately digested with
eight different restriction enzymes: HindIII, EcoRI, BamHI,
XhoI, BglII, XbaI, ClaI, KpnI overnight at 37 °C. DNA
from each digest was purified and ligated at 14 °Covernight
with T4 DNA ligase and precipitated. ÔNested Õ PCR
reaction was used to perform inverse PCR. Two s ets of
PCR primers were designed for SacMC3R fragment
containing one inner primer pair 5¢-TCATTAGCCA
CTAAGTAGCCAT-3¢ (positions 314–335 on cDNA)
and 5¢-TGGTCCGCCAGAGGACTTG-3¢ (positio ns
692–710) and one pa ir of outer primers 5¢-CCATAC
TGTATTTGTTAC-3¢ (positions 817 –831) and 5¢-ACT
TACCAGCATGTCTGC-3¢ (positions 253–270). The
primers w ere placed at the 3 ¢ and 5 ¢ parts of cloned
fragment in o rientation to amplify nucleotide sequences
upstream and downstream of the known fragment
sequence. A primary PCR reaction was performed with
the inner primer pairs using different ligations as a template,
with the following PCR conditions: 95 °C for 15 s, 60 °C
for 20 s, and 72 °C for 2 min for 40 cycles. One microlitre of
the primary PCR reactions was used as template in a second
PCR using the outer primer combination with the following
conditions: 95 °Cfor15s,68°C for 20 s, and 72 °Cfor
2 min for 40 cycles. The products of second PCR r eactions
were isolated from agarose gel, and w ere cloned into pCRII
vector using TOPO cloning kit and transformed i nto
Escherichia coli DH5a cells. Inserts were sequenced with
vector-specific primers according to the sequencing protocol
above.
Alignments and phylogenetic analysis
Alignment of predicted full-length amino acid sequences for
the new genes together w ith other known MCRs was made
using
CLUSTALW
1.8 software [32]. The following receptor
sequences (with their accession codes) were retrieved
from GenBank for this analysis: human Homo sapiens
(Hsa) MC1R (NM_002386), MC2R (NM_000529),
MC3R (XM_009545), M C4R (NM_005912), MC5R
(XM_008685); chicken Gallus gallus (Gga) MC1 R
(D78272), MC2R (AB009605), MC3R (AB017137),
MC4R (AB012211), MC5R (AB012868), Danio rerio
(Dre), MC1R (NM_180970), MC2R (NM_180971),
MC3R (NM_180972), MC4R (AY078989), MC5aR
(AY078990) and MC5bR (AY078991) and dogfish
S. acanthias (Sac) MC4R (AAO39833). The identified genes
have the following accession numbers: S. acanthias MC3R
(AY560605) and MC5R (AY562212). Phylogenetic trees
were constructed by MEGA v .2.2 [33] using maximum
parsimony an d distance neighbor-joining methods. Human
NPY Y1R (P25929) was used to root the receptor tree.
Bootstrapping was performed with 1000 replicates.
Cloning and expression of receptors
Full-length coding sequences were amplified by means of
PCR either from phage DNA (MC5R) or from TOPO
plasmid containing MC3R gene with Pfx polymerase u sing
HindIII and XhoI restriction sites containing primers for the
5¢ and 3¢ termini of the gene, respectively. The fragments
obtained were then digested with both restriction enzymes
and gel purifi ed prior t o ligation i nto modified p CEP
expression vector [34] containing an enhanced green fluor-
escence protein (EGFP) coding gene fused to the C terminus
of the receptor gene. All constructs w ere verified by
sequencing. HEK293 cells, grown to 50–70% confluence,
were transfected with 10 lg of the construct using
FuGENE-6 Transfection Reagent (Roche) according to
the manufacturer’s instruction. The cells were grown in
Dulbecco’s mod ified Eagle’s m edia: F-12 Nutrient Mixture
(DMEM/F-12) (1 : 1) with G lutaMAX I containing
10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum, 100 lgÆmL
)1
penicillin,
100 lgÆmL
)1
streptomycin, 2.5 lgÆmL
)1
amphotericin B,
and 250 lgÆmL
)1
geneticin G-418 (Gibco) i n a humidified
atmosphere of 95% a ir and 5% CO
2
(v/v) at 37 °C. Semi-
stable cell lines, expressing target receptor, were obtained by
selecting for growth in the presence of 100 lgÆmL
)1
hygromycin B (Invitrogen), first added 24 h after transfec-
tion. The cells were grown continuously in the presence of
hygromycin B.
Fluorescent microscopy
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-1) cells were grown on glass
coverslips and were transfected with 2 lg of appropriate
plasmid according to FuGENE-6 Transfection Reagent
protocol. Cells were fixed and mounted 24 h post-transfec-
ton. Similarly, the semistable HEK293 cell lines expressing
the d ogfish receptors were plated on coverslips a nd grown
for 48 h prior t o fi xation. The cells were washed twice with
ice-cold 1· NaCl/P
i
before fixation i n 4% (v/v) parafor-
maldehyde containing 1· NaCl/P
i
for 15 min. The cover-
slips were then washed twice with NaCl/P
i
and mounted in
NaCl/P
i
containing 1 lgÆmL
)1
DAPI (4,6-diamino-2-phe-
nylindole). Cells were examined immediately using a Zeiss
Axioplan 2 microscope. The digitally acquired images were
4322 J. Klovins et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
captured and analysed using
OPENLAB
software (Improvi-
sion). A t least three slides were analysed for each receptor
and cell type. From all cells expressing re ceptor–EGFP
fusion, only the cells displaying single DAPI stained nucleus
were considered for analysis. Fifteen randomly s elected
cells were analysed from each slide.
Radioligand binding assay
HEK293 cells expressing the d ogfish receptors were harves-
ted from plates and resuspended in binding buffer c om-
posed of 25 m
M
Hepes, 2.5 m
M
CaCl
2
,1m
M
MgCl
2
and
0.2% (w/v) bacitracin, pH adjusted to 7.4. To obtain the
membranes, cells were homogenized using Ultra Turrax.
The cell suspension was centrifuged for 3 min a t 220 g and
membranes were collected from the supernatant b y c entrif-
ugation for 15 min at 20 000 g. The pellet was resuspended
in binding buffer. The binding was performed in a final
volume of 100 lL for 3 h at room temperature. Satura-
tion experiments were c arried out with serial dilutions of
125
I-labelled (Nle4,
D
-Phe7)-a-MSH (NDP-MSH), labelled
by the Chloramine-T method. Non-specific binding was
determined in the presence of 1 l
M
unlabeled NDP-MSH.
Competition e xperiments were performed with constant
0.6 n
M
concentration of
125
I-labelled NDP–MSH and serial
dilutions of competing u nlabelled ligands: N DP-MSH,
a-MSH, b-MSH, c
1
-MSH, ACTH(1–24), ACTH(1–17),
MTII, and HS024 (Neosystem). The membranes were
collected by fi ltration on g lass fibre filters, Filtermat A
(Wallac), using a TOMTEC Mach III cell harvester
(Orange, CT, USA). The filters were washed with 5 mL
per well o f 50 m
M
Tris/HCl pH 7.4 and dried a t 5 0 °C.
MeltiLex A scintillator sheets (Wallac) were melted on dried
filters and radioactivity was counted with automatic
Microbeta counter 1450 (Wallac). Binding assay was
performed i n duplicate from a t l east three independent
experiments. Non-transfected cells did not show any specific
binding with
125
I-labelled NDP-MS H. The results were
analysed with
PRISM
3.0 software package (GraphPad).
cAMP assay
Cyclic adenosine m onophosphate production was d eter-
mined on semistable HEK293 cells expressing the target
MCR. A con fluent layer of cells was incubated for 3 h with
2.5 lCiÆmL
)1
[
3
H]ATP (specific activity 29 CiÆmmol
)1
;
Amersham Biosciences). Cells were c ollected, washed with
buffer containing 137 m
M
NaCl, 5 m
M
KCl, 0.44 m
M
KH
2
PO
4
,4.2m
M
NaHCO
3
,1.2m
M
MgCl
2
Æ6H
2
O, 20 m
M
Hepes, 1 m
M
CaCl
2
,and10m
M
glucose, pH adjusted to
7.4. All reaction components w ere r esuspended in t he
above-mentioned buffer containing 0.5 m
M
isobutyl-
methylxanthine (IBMX; Sigma). Resuspended cells were
incubated for 10 min at 37 °C. Stimulation reaction was
performed for 20 min a t 3 7 °C i n a final volume of 150 lL
containing 2 · 10
5
cells and various concentrations of a
a-MSH, c
1
-MSH, and ACTH(1–24). After incubation, cells
were centrifuged and 200 lLof0.33
M
perchloric acid was
added to pellets to lyse the cells. The cells were frozen,
thawed and spun down. Lysate (200 lL) was a dded to
Dowex 50 W-X4 resin columns (Bio-Rad), washed previ-
ously with 2· 10 mL H
2
O. As an internal standard, 750 lL
0.33
M
perchloric acid containing 0.5 nCiÆmL
)1
[
14
C]cAMP
(Amersham Biosciences) was added to each column.
Columns wer e washed with 2 mL H
2
OtoremoveATP,
which was collected in scintillation vials to estimate the
amount o f unconverted [
3
H]ATP. Four millilitres o f Ready
Safe scintillation cocktail (Perkin Elmer) was added to the
vials before counting. Dowex columns were then placed
over alumina (Sigma) columns (prewashed with 8 mL 0.1
M
imidazole) and the cAMP was transferred onto the alumina
column using 10 mL H
2
O. cAMP was e luted from alumina
column with 4 mL 0.1
M
imidazole and collected into
scintillation vials to w hich 7 mL of scintillation fluid
was a dded.
3
Hand
14
C were counted on Tri-carb liquid
scintillation beta counter. The amount of obtained
[
14
C]cAMP was expressed as a fraction of total [
14
C]cAMP
([
14
C]cAMP/total[
14
C]cAMP) and was used to standardize
[
3
H]cAMP to column effic iency. Results were calculated as
the perce nt of total [
3
H]ATP (obtained as a sum of [
3
H]ATP
from first column and [
3
H]cAMP from second column) to
[
3
H]cAMP and used to d etermine 50% effective concentra-
tion (EC
50
) values by non-linear r egression using
PRISM
3.0
software. All experiments were performed in duplicate and
repeated three times.
RT-PCR and Southern analysis
Total RNA was isolated f rom number of peripheral tissues
(muscle, heart, liver, kidney, rectal gland, spiral valve, eye,
colon) and several brain regions (optic tectum, hypothala-
mus, brain stem, telencephalon, cerebellum and olfactory
bulbs) after dissection from frozen animals and homo-
genizaton. The total RNA w as isolated using RNeasy Mini
Kit (Qiagen) including processing with DNA shredder and
DNAse I treatment (Qiagen) as recommended by the
manufacturer. As some of the samples retained genomic
DNA, total RNA wa s exposed to a further treatment with
1 unit ÆlL
)1
RNase-free DNaseI (Roche) for 10 min, fol-
lowedbyheatinactivationofDNasefor5minat70°C.
Due to absence of publicly available sequence of dogfish
b-a ctin gene, we designed primers for c onservative parts of
b-a ctin genes from other vertebrate species: 5¢-C GTGCG
TGACATCAAGGAGA-3¢ and 5¢-CTTGGTAGGGCTC
CCAGCAC-3¢. The primers w ere tested on genomic DNA,
the s equence o f PCR product was determined as b-actin
gene and submitted to GenBank (AY581300). Absence of
genomic DNA in RNA preparations was confirmed in PCR
reaction with these primers using 10–100 n g of total RNA
as a template and genomic DNA as a positive control.
Messenger RNA w as reverse transcribed u sing the 1st
Strand cDNA Synthesis kit (Amersham Biosciences). The
quality of cDNA was t ested in PCR with the a bove-
mentioned b-actin primers. The cDNA produced was u sed
as a template for PCR with t he specific primers for the
receptor genes (see below). The conditions for PCR on
receptor genes were: 1 min initial denaturation, 95 °Cfor
15 s, 55 °Cfor20s,72°C for 1 min for 30 cycles and
ending with 5 m in at 72 °C, using Taq polymerase (Invi-
trogen). The following primers were used: 5¢-CTTCCT
CTGTAGTTTAGCAG-3¢ (positions 231–250 on cDNA)
and 5¢-CACATAATGAGGATCAGGTATG-3¢ (positions
848–869) for MC3R gene (expected size 639 bp); 5¢-GAC
TGTAAAACGAGCCACTT-3¢ (positions 462–481) and
Ó FEBS 2004 MC3 and MC5 receptorsofspiny dogfish (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 4323
5¢-GCTCTCTGATGAATTGAGTT-3¢ (positions 676–
695) for MC5R gene (expected size 234 bp). The PCR
products were analysed on a 1% agarose gel. DNA from the
gel was transferred onto nylon filters overnight using 0.4
M
NaOH. The filters were hybridized with a random-primed
32
P-labelled, receptor specific probe. P robes w ere g enerated
by Megaprime DNA labelling kit RPN1607 (Amersham
Biosciences), using sequence verified PCR products ampli-
fied from plasmids containing dogfish MCR genes. Hybrid-
ization was carried out at 65 °C in 25% (v/v) formamide,
6· NaCl/Cit, 10% (w/v) dextran sulfate, 5· Denhardt’s
solution and 0.1% (w/v) SDS overnight. The filters were
washed three times in 0.2· Na Cl/Cit, 0.1% (w/v) SDS for
1 h at 65 °C and exposed to autoradiography fi lm (Amer-
sham Biosciences). As positive controls in the Southern
blots, the genomic DNA and the PCR products obtained
from it were used. PCR products from other SacMCR
subtypes were used to show the absence of cross-hybridiza-
tion for p robes used in Southern blots. The RT-PCR
reactions and Southern blotting were performed at least
twice each. To confirm the single-strand conformational
nature of the a pparent double bands, PCR products were
denatured in 3% (v/v) formaldehyde, 25% (v/v) formamide
solution and separated on 1.4% agarose g el using Mops
buffer (20 m
M
Mops, 2 m
M
sodium acetate and 1 m
M
EDTA); this re sulted in a single band in Southern blots.
To estimate the length of the bands on the Southern blots
images were overlaid with images of the ethidium bromide-
stained gel and length was assigned according to marker
positions.
Results
Degenerate PCR was performed on genomic DNA of spiny
dogfish resulting in a PCR product of 600 bp; this was
then cloned and about 10 clones were sequenced. Sequences
were compared with sequences in GenBank by using
BLASTN
and
BLASTX
. Three identical clones displayed high
identity to the MCRs, with the highest score to t he chicken
MC3R. This sequence was used as a p robe for high
stringency screening of a dogfish genomic phage library.
Three positive phages were selected an d these were found to
include the entire sequence of a full-length MCR gene. This
sequence was however, different from probe seq uence and
showed highest s imilarity to the zebrafish MC5aR when
compared with the GenBank database. Repeated s creening
with the MC3R probe did not result in a phage clone from
this library. In order to obtain the full-length MC3R gene
sequence, we performed inverse PCR on circularized
fragments of dogfish genomic DNA using number of
different restriction enzymes for DNA fragme ntation. PCR
products obtained from ClaIandKpnI fragments contained
a MC3R s equence and we were able to extend the sequence
in bo th 3¢ and 5 ¢ directions to overlap the st op codon and
initiating ATG codon, respectively. The genes were designed
S. acanthias (Sac) MC3R and MC5R according to their
sequence similarity with previously cloned MCR sfrom
human, mouse, chicken, zebrafish and Fugu and the
phylogenetic analysis. Protein sequence alignment of these
receptors is shown in Fig. 1. Maximum parsimony analysis
of this group ofreceptors i s shown in Fig. 2, r epresenting a
consensus t ree. The dogfish M C3R sequence h as highest
identity to the MC3 subtype r eceptors (6 3–75%), w hile the
dogfish MC5R gene displayed 72–77% identity to other
receptors of the MC5R subtype. Both maximum parsimony
and neighbor-joining methods gave consistent topology of
trees supporting the designation o f the new receptors as
subtypes of the M C3R and MC 5R, r espectively. As
expected, the SacMCRs branched out at basal to node
dividing the teleost (zebrafish) and two tetrapod MCRs
sequences in MC3R, MC4R and MC5R clades.
The coding sequences of the SacMC3R and SacMC5R
were recloned i nto an expression vector containing the
cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter and sequenced to con-
firm. The receptors expressed in semistable HEK293 cells
were tested in radioligand-binding assays on prepared
membranes. Transfection of SacMC3R gave rise to specific
binding of the radioligand w hile transfection of SacMC5R
did not, despite repeated attempts. SacMC5R has an
alternative ATG start c oding upstream of t he one we
considered to be the start codon. We reconstructed the clone
and added an additional sequence i ncluding the alternative
start codon, but transfection with this clone still did not give
rise to any specific binding. This was very surprising to us as
this was t he first wild-type MCR clone in any s pecies
that has not been readily expressed to g ive binding with
125
I-labelledNDP–MSH (except the MC2R). In order to
control t he expression levels and cell surface location of the
protein, we fused an EGFP gene to the C terminus of the
receptor g ene for both the clones. The constructs were
transfected in HEK293 ce lls and semistable c ell lines were
created. Moreover, transient expression of hybrid receptors
in CHO-1 cells was p erformed to estimate the localization
of receptorsin cell detecting the EGFP in a fluorescent
microscopy. In 80–90% of the receptor–EGFP fusion
expressing cells, analysed in several experiments, the
SacMC3R showed diffuse staining, which was also present
in plasma membrane of CHO-1 (Fig. 3) and semistable
HEK293 cells (data not shown). The cells expressing the
SacMC5R, however, s howed st aining concentrated around
the nucleus and w as not present i n plasma m embrane
(Fig. 3). None of the analysed cells expressing SacMC5R
displayed EGFP presence a round the plasma membrane.
The absence of SacMC5R from plasma membrane may
explain why
125
I-labelled NDP–MSH did not show any
specific binding with this receptor.
Membranes containing SacMC3R were used to test the
binding properties of the endogenous melanocortin peptides
of human origin and the synthetic ligands. The high-affinity
ligand
125
I-labelled NDP–MSH was used f or saturation
analysis. Competition binding analysis was performed using
NDP-MSH, a-MSH, b-MSH, c
1
-MSH, ACTH(1–17),
ACTH(1–24), MTII and HS024 as competitors. Figure 4
shows saturation and competition curves for SacMC3R.
The K
d
and K
i
values obtained from these experiments are
shown in Table 1, which also includes results for the human
MCRs (published previously, see Table 1) for comparison,
tested with the same methodological approach. R esults
show that
125
I-labelled NDP–MSH binds to single saturable
site on SacMC3R with an affinity very similar to that of
HsaMC3R. The affinity of NDP–MSH in competition
experiments was slightly lower than for the human ortho-
logue. a-MSH and b-MSH had similar affinities (1.8 and
2.4-fold higher, respectively) to HsaMC3R, while c
1
-MSH
4324 J. Klovins et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
showed a 7.5-fold lower affinity than HsaMC3R. Of note is
that both the 1–17 and 1–24 truncated versions of ACTH
showed considerably higher affinities for this r eceptor than
for the human MCRs, except f or HsaMC1R. A CTH(1–17)
had an 8 .7-, and A CTH(1–24) had a 21.6-fold higher
affinity. The synthetic ligands MTII and HS024 bound to
SacMC3R w ith approximately the same affinities as shown
for the HsaMC3R.
HEK293 ce lls expressing SacMC3R were a lso tested in a
cAMP assay in order to determine the ability of t hese
Fig. 1. The amino acid sequence alignment of MCRs was made using
CLUSTALW
1.8. Putative transmem brane (T M) regions are marked with lines.
Black boxes show identical amino acid p ositions, conserved amino acids are marked with grey boxes. Abbreviations: Hsa, human; Dre, zebrafish;
Gga, chicken; Sac, dogfish. The accession numbers and Latin names are listed in Materials and methods. Putative glycosylation sites in the
N-terminal region are boxed. A site with reduced potency of glycosylation in the N-terminal sequence of SacMC5R, as predicte d using the
NETNGLYC
1.0 Server ( http://ww w.cbs.dtu.dk/se rvices/NetN Glyc/), is underlined.
Ó FEBS 2004 MC3 and MC5 receptorsofspiny dogfish (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 4325
receptors to couple to G-prote ins and induce the accumu-
lation of cAMP upon stimulation with a-MSH, ACTH and
c
1
-MSH. The results are shown in Fig. 5. These three
substances were able to activate the a ccumulation of cAMP
with considerable EC
50
values. a-MSH and ACTH had
EC
50
values of 0.4 and 0.8 nmolÆL
)1
, respectively, while
c
1
-MSH displayed s lightly lower potency (EC
50
¼ 2.6
nmolÆL
)1
).
The tissue distribution of the two do gfish MCRs was
determined by RT-PCR. Total RNA from a number of
tissues, including different brain regions, was isolated from
an adult female dogfish a nd used to generate cDNA. It
should be noted that the RT-PCR assay was not designed
for quantitative analysis. The integrity of the mRNA was
confirmed by PCR using b-actin primers based on consen-
sus sequence for b-actin from different fish species. PCR
product of the expected length of the b-actin was observed
on EtBr stained agarose gels from all of the different tissues.
The sequence of the PCR product was determined and
confirmed t o b e a dogfish b-actin. T he results of t he
RT-PCR for both receptors are sho wn in Fig. 6. Bands on
Southern blots were observed for b oth receptorsin the
hypothalamus, brain stem and telencephalon and a signal
was also detected in optic tectum. A band was seen in
olfactory bulb for the SacMC3R. The RNA preparation
and c DNA synthesis were carried out twice, PCR and
Southern blotting were repeated at least three times.
Discussion
We d escribe the cloningoftwo MCRs inspiny dogfish.
Based on phylogenetic analysis we show that these receptors
are orthologues of the M C3R and MC5R and w ere
therefore designed as SacMC3R and SacMC5R. Presence
of three MCRs in dogfish (together with previously cloned
SacMC4R) suggests that the full repertoire of MCRs is
likely to h ave been present prior to the radiation of the
gnathostomes. The MCRs that have been cloned previously
and characterized from fish include all five mammalian
subtypes except the MC3R subtype. The only known
MC3R in fishes is zebrafish MC3R [15,35] which has still
not been characterized from either a pharmaco logical or an
anatomical perspective. The presence of a SacMC3R in
chondrichthyans, which diverged prior to the split of ray-
finned fishes and t etrapods, suggests that this receptor was
created and took on important functions very early in
vertebrate evolution a nd is likely to be found in most
vertebrate species, despite not being found in t he teleost
Fugu. The phylogenetic analysis p resented in Fig. 2, indeed,
assigns high bootstrap values to the SacMC4R cloned by u s
previously [30], and puts both the SacMC3R and SacMC5R
in positions that are in agreement w ith the split of
cartilaginous fishes, confirming that these are the m ost
Ôancie ntÕ MCRs described so far. It is interesting to note that
SacMC3R and SacMC5R show very high sequence identity
with the other orthologues from corresponding MCR
subgroups. This is remarkable because cartilaginous fishes
diverged from the lineage leading to mammals over 450
million years ago. Both re ceptors exhibit structural c harac-
teristics typical for the mammalian MCRs, inclu ding the
presence of highly conserved subgroup-specific amino acid
positions, short extra- and intra-cellular loops, and short
divergent C and N termini ( Fig. 1). Moreover, many of the
regions within the transmembrane (TM) bundle that have
been suggested to be crucial for the binding and activation of
the r eceptor [36,37], such a s t he TM2 and TM3, have
88–92% and 89–96% amino acid identity between the
dogfish and human MC3R and MC5R orthologues, respect-
ively. It should be mentioned that we were not able to p ick up
Fig. 2. Phylogenetic analysis of MCRs using full-length amino acid
sequences. The consensus tree was generated by using maximum
parsimony analysis (
MEGA
2.2). The numbers at the nodes indicate the
percentage of bootstrap replicates. A bb reviations: H sa, human; Dre,
zebrafish;Gga,chicken;Sac,dogfishTru,Fugu. The cloned dogfish
MC3R and MC5R are underlin ed. Dogfish MC receptors are in bold.
Fig. 3. Microscope images of CHO cells
transiently expressing S acMC3R (left) and
SacMC5R (right). The fl uorescent images
were obtained by illumination at 488 nm.
Arrows indicate plasma membrane localiza-
tion of the r eceptor–EGFP fusion proteins.
4326 J. Klovins et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
either MC1R or MC2R sequences from the libraries using
our probes. Comparison of already known Fugu and
zebrafish sequences has revealed that these subtypes have
diverged more than other subtypes as t hey have only
52–53% and 46–47% amino acid identity, respectively, with
the human orthologues. This could be the reason why we
were not able t o detect such genes during our screening.
The pharmacological characterization of the SacMC3R
shows that ithas slightly higher affinities for a-MSH and
b-MSH, but a lower affinity for c-MSH as compared with
the human orthologue. ACTH showed, however, much
higher affinity (21-fold) for SacMC3R t han the human
counterpart, the ACTH peptides indeed had the highest
affinity to the SacMC3R among the natural peptides. This
is particularly interesting as p revious findings on o ther
MCR subtypes in non-mammalian species indicate the
same.TheMC1R,MC4RandMC5RinFugu have higher
affinity for ACTH-derivedpeptides than a-, b-, and
c-MSH. Our unpublished results on characterization of
the chicken MCRs suggest similar preferenceto A CTH-
derived peptides. Our new results on SacMC3R provide
additional evidence for the hypothesis that we presented
earlier [15] that ACTH c ould be the ÔoriginalÕ ligand for
MCRs inlower vertebrates. This hypothesis suggests that
the subtype-dependent characteristics of the MCR subtypes
such as the relatively high potency of c-MSH to MC3R, the
slightly higher affinity for b-MSH and very low affinity of
c-MSH for MC4R, were developed later during the
evolution of vertebrates. T his could mean that there was
an increased specification o f the roles of the different
subtypes in mammals, as compared with ÔlowerÕ vertebrates.
It is also interesting i n this c ontext to note t hat t he
difference in the affinity of c-MSH a nd a-MSH for
SacMC4R is not as high as for t he human counterparts.
The second messenger results also show that ACTH has
good ability to activate the receptor, while a-MSH and
c-MSH had slightly lower potency. It seems clear, therefore,
that even thou gh c-MSH does not have the same import-
ance for SacMC3R as it does for human MC3R, c-MSH
has still a clear preference for MC3R over MC4R in the
spiny dogfish. Taken together, it is important to note that
there seems to be clear evidence for subtype specificity at the
different MCRs in c artilaginous fishes, while this specifica-
tion is more prominent i n mammals. It is also notable that
Fig. 4. Saturation curves with Scatchard plots and competition curves
for SacMC3R expressed in HEK293 ce lls. The saturation curves (left)
were obtained with
125
I-labelled NDP–MSH and the figure sho ws total
binding (j) and binding in the presence of 2 l
M
cold NDP–MSH (m).
The lines represent the computer-modelled best fit of the data assu-
ming that ligands bound to one site. The competition curves (right) for
NDP–MSH (s), a-MSH ( m), b-MSH (h), c
1
-MSH (d), ACTH (1–24)
(j), ACTH(1–17) (,), MTII (*) a nd HS024 (r) were obtained by
using a fixed conc entration of 0.6 n
M
125
I-labelled NDP–MSH and
varying concentrations of t he unlabe lled competing peptide.
Table 1. K
d
and K
i
values (mean ±
±
SEM) obtained from the saturation and competition curves, respectively, for melanocortin peptide analogues of the
dogfish (Sac)andhuman(Hsa) M C3 and M C4 receptors. ND , Not determined.
Ligand
SacMC3
(nmolÆL
)1
)
HsaMC3
a
(nmolÆL
)1
)
SacMC4
d
(nmolÆL
)1
)
HsaMC4
a
(nmolÆL
)1
)
125
I-labelled NDP–MSH (K
d
) 0.597 ± 0.007 0.412 ± 0.121 1.21 ± 0.44 1.78 ± 0.36
NDP–MSH (K
i
) 0.927 ± 0.158 0.319 ± 0.064 1.50 ± 0.05 1.96 ± 0.39
a-MSH (K
i
) 11.6 ± 1.2 21.2 ± 5.3 198 ± 42 522 ± 122
b-MSH (K
i
) 6.22 ± 0.44 15.1 ± 3.4 570 ± 278 387 ± 208
c-MSH (K
i
) 55.5 ± 3.7 7.45 ± 2.55 1950 ± 70 51800 ± 12000
ACTH(1–24) (K
i
) 1.52 ± 0.23 32.8 ± 6.7 ND 755 ± 151
ACTH(1–17) (K
i
) 1.61 ± 0.59 14.0 ± 4.5
b
ND 419 ± 62
b
MTII (K
i
) 15.9 ± 1.0 34.1 ± 4.4
c
ND 6.60 ± 0.82
c
HS024 (K
i
) 7.38 ± 0.49 15.1 ± 3.0 ND 0.341 ± 0.089
Data are from
a
Schio
¨
th et al. [44];
b
Schio
¨
th et al. [45];
c
Schio
¨
th et al. [46];
d
Ringholm et al. [30].
Ó FEBS 2004 MC3 and MC5 receptorsofspiny dogfish (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 4327
the overall potency of the MSH peptidesin the second
messenger assay is very high, which is in good agreement
with the fact t hat the core regions of POMC encoding these
peptides is very well conserved. It should, however, be kept
in mind that we used human MSH p eptides in our study.
Even thought there is a high similarity between fish and
mammalian MSH sequences it would be interesting to test
dogfish MSH peptides at the SacMCRs.
The new receptors were characterized by their ability
undergo proper folding and transport to the cell surface.
Using receptor–EGFP fusion we were able to show the
presence of SacMC3R i n the plasma membrane of CHO and
HEK293 cells, while SacMC5Rs was r etained in intracellular
compartments of these cells. It is not clear whether this
unusual property of SacMC5R has a functional meaning.
There is however, another example among MCRs where the
receptor is not transported to the cell membrane. The MC2R
is arrested in the endoplasmatic reticulum of most cell lines.
This is likely to play a significant role in the functional
properties of this receptor [38] as it seems to be functional
only in cell types of adrenocortical origin. MC2R is
transported to the plasma membrane only in a drenal cortex
cells in which it r egulates steroid synthesis. The sequence or
structural determinants ofreceptors responsible for this
phenomenon is, however, not known, but is being studied
further in our laboratory. Ithas been shown for some
GPCRs, that removal of glycosylation signals may alter the
proper transport of r eceptor to plasma m embrane [39,40].
Analysis of SacMC5R sequence u sing N-linked g lycosyla-
tion prediction software r evealed a reduced potency for one
of the glycosylation sites at the middle of N terminus of
SacMC5R, which is p resent in all other MCRs (Fig. 1).
SacMC5R also has Trp instead of Arg324 in a position in the
C-terminal region which is h ighly conserved for all known
MCRs, and this may influence t he structural properties of
SacMC5R and subsequently its transport to the membrane.
Fig. 5. Generation of cAMP in response to a–MSH (m), ACTH(1–24)
(j) and c
1
–MSH (h) for the S acMC3R expressed in HEK293 cells.
Untransfected cells showed no adenyl ate cyclase activity in response to
ligands (data not shown). The cAMP assay was performed in duplicate
and repeated at least twice for each receptor subtype.
A
B
Fig. 6. Expression of the SacMC3R (A),
SacMC5R (B) mRNA a s determined by
RT-PCR. Autoradiographs of Southern blots,
hybridized with gene specific probes a re
shown. The tissues, controls and expected sizes
of the PCR products are denoted at the top of
each panel. OT, o ptic tectum; HT, hypotha-
lamus; BS, b rain stem; Tel., telencephalon;
CB, cerebellum; OB, olfactory bulb.
4328 J. Klovins et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
As a consequence, neither SacMC5R–EGFP fusion protein
nor the n ative SacMC5R s howed any detectable bind ing or
stimulation of cAMP synthesis. It is interesting to speculate
that this could be a specific regulatory feature of some of the
MCRs, such as M C2R and MC5R, that coincidentally are
found in tandem on the chromosomes for both fish
(zebrafish, Fugu), chickens and mammals. If our hypothesis
that A CTH is the ÔoriginalÕ ligand for the MCR family is true,
suggesting that MC2R may have maintained the original
function of the MCR system to a greater extent than the
other receptors, it is possible to speculate that such a cell-
specific regulatory element could have been maintained also
by MC5R in the spiny dogfish whileit was lost in ÔhigherÕ
vertebrates.
Anatomical charting revealed that SacMC3R is expressed
in different brain regions including the hypothalamus, brain
stem and telencephalon, olfactory bulbs and optic tectum
but not in the cerebellum. The presence of SacMC3R in the
brain is not surprising, as the mammalian MC3R is found
primarily in the brain. The mammalian MC3R has also
been found in some peripheral tissues such as placenta and
gut. MC3R has however, not been found in the brain of
chicken but only in t he adrenal gland [41]. The e xact
functional r ole of MC3R is not fully known but it is clear
that ithas important role in regulation of the energy balance
(as does MC4R). Moreover, it ha s been sugge sted to serv e
as an auto-receptor for MC4R in regulation of the energy
balance [11]. The fact that the MC3R gene is missing in a
thriving vertebrate such as Fugu could suggest that this
receptor may be less important than th e other MCRs, and
that fact could fit well to the idea that the MC3R has a
ÔsupportingÕ role for the very important MC4R. The
expression patterns of SacMC3R and SacMC4R are fairly
similar, being in the central regions of the brain and not in
the cerebellum. This could support the idea that these two
receptors may have an inte grated physiological role . The
presence of MC3R and its clear expression at several sites in
the spiny dogfish may indicate that the absence of this
receptor in Fugu is a feature of that particular species. This
should also be considered in light of the fact that c-MSH
sequence is absent from the POMC gene of teleost fishes
including both Fugu and zebrafish. The p resence of a
c-MSH seems however, not be a prerequisite for t he
presence of a MC3R, as this receptor is found in zebrafish,
despite that t he zebrafish P OMC does not have c-MSH.
Unfortunately, there is no data on pharmacology of
zebrafish MC3R, the only known MC3R f rom l ower
vertebrates missing the sequence of c-MSH.
We have found that SacMC5R is expressed exclusively in
the brain tiss ue of the spiny dogfish. In mammals and
chickens MC5R is expressed in a wide range of tissues
including peripheral ones [5,42]. Our previous results on
different teleost fish species such as the zebrafish, Fugu,
goldfish a nd tro ut ind icated localiz ation of MC5R in brain
and some p eripheral tissues including eye, ovary and
gastrointestinal tract. The functional role of MC5R is much
less well defined than that of the other subtypes. Results
from the teleost, chicken and m any mammals indicate that
it took on both central and peripheral r oles early i n
vertebrate evolution and it was thus a little s urprising that
this recepto r was not found in peripheral t issue in the spiny
dogfish. The more restricted a natomical d istribution o f this
receptor in the spiny dogfish c ould be mean that this
receptor has a role only in some specific cell types which
may be reflected by the fact that it cannot be transported t o
themembraneincelltypesthatworkwellformostGPCRs.
The central expression pattern could a lso mean t hat MCRs
in general had roles predominantly in the central nervous
system in early vertebrate evolution considering that all
three MCRs in the dogfish are found mainly in the brain.
The MCR family is interesting for understanding how
closely related genes have gained their specific functions. It is
quite remark able that despite relatively high conservation of
the primary sequence elements, the five MCRs seem to have
very diverse functional roles, at least in mammals. A ccord-
ing t o our pr evious suggestion about evolution o f MC
system, these three receptors share common ancestral genes
and arose by both genome a nd local duplications [15]. I t is
thus possible that the receptors have similar functions and
were localized in similar tissues shortly after they emerged,
and that their evolution displays gradual partitioning or
complementation of their ancestral functions. This i s in
agreement with the recently developed degeneration com-
plementation (DDC) model, which suggests that the
functions of a new gene reflects the partitioning of ancestral
functions, rather than t he evolution o f new functions [43].
According to this, the divergence and functional specificity
for the MCRs were acquire d later in evolution, partially in
fish but to a greater extent in the tetrapod lineages.
In conclusion, we have shown that the sp iny dogfish h as
both MC3R and MC5R. We have performed thorough
characterization of the se receptors from different aspects
including phylogenetic analysis, expression, intracellular
localization, pharmacology and tissue distribution. MC3R
is the first receptorof its subtype that has been characterized
in ÔlowerÕ vertebrates. It is now almost certain that
appearance of the most important elements of th e MC
system dates to before the radiation of gnathostomes, early
in vertebrate evolution.
Acknowledgements
We thank E. T. Larsson, Uppsala University for expert assistance
during dissection o f the dogfish. J. Klovins w as supported by the
Wenner-Gren foundation and by a Marie Curie Fellowship of the
European Community programme ÔImproving the Human Research
potential and the Socio-Economic Knowledge BaseÕ under contract
number HPMF-CT-2002–01786.¢ The studies were supported by the
Swedish Research Council (V.R., m edicine), the Swedish S ociety for
Medical Research (S.S.M.F.) and Svenska La
¨
karesa
¨
llskapet.
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