Wu Fengrui, Wu Limin, Wu Qingqing, Zhou Linyan, Li Wenyong, Wang Deshou
Key Laboratory of Embryo Development and Reproductive Regulation, School of Biological and Food Engineering, Fuyang Teachers College, Fuyang, Anhui Province, 236000, China.
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Fish Physiol Biochem. 2018 Apr;44(2):651-659. doi: 10.1007/s10695-017-0460-2. Epub 2017 Dec 30.
β-Catenin, a key transcriptional coactivator of the Wnt pathway, plays an important role in animal embryonic development and organogenesis. In our earlier study, we have reported that two types of β-catenin (β-catenin-1 and β-catenin-2) were ubiquitously expressed in almost all the tissues examined in tilapia. However, the immunolocalization of β-catenin in those tissues, especially in extra-gonadal tissues, remains unclear. In the present study, we further confirm that these two types of β-catenin gene exist only in teleosts and are derived from 3R (third round of genome duplication) by phylogenetic and syntenic analyses. Moreover, the transcriptome analysis conducted in this investigation reveals that two β-catenins exhibited similar expression patterns in seven adult tissues and four key developmental stages of XX and XY gonads. Finally, immunohistochemistry analysis was performed to detect the cell localization of β-catenin. A positive signal of β-catenin was observed in various tissues of tilapia, such as the intestine, liver, kidney, spleen, eye, brain, and gonads. The results of our study indicate that tilapia β-catenin might be involved in the organ development and play some specific functions in biological processes; all these data will provide basic reference for understanding the molecular mechanism of β-catenin in regulating of teleost organogenesis.
β-连环蛋白是Wnt信号通路的关键转录共激活因子，在动物胚胎发育和器官形成中发挥重要作用。在我们早期的研究中，我们报道了两种类型的β-连环蛋白（β-连环蛋白-1和β-连环蛋白-2）在罗非鱼几乎所有检测的组织中均有广泛表达。然而，β-连环蛋白在这些组织中的免疫定位，尤其是在性腺外组织中的免疫定位仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们通过系统发育和共线性分析进一步证实这两种类型的β-连环蛋白基因仅存在于硬骨鱼中，并且源自3R（第三次基因组复制）。此外，本研究中进行的转录组分析表明，两种β-连环蛋白在XX和XY性腺的七个成体组织和四个关键发育阶段表现出相似的表达模式。最后，进行免疫组织化学分析以检测β-连环蛋白的细胞定位。在罗非鱼的各种组织中观察到β-连环蛋白的阳性信号，如肠道、肝脏、肾脏、脾脏、眼睛、大脑和性腺。我们的研究结果表明，罗非鱼β-连环蛋白可能参与器官发育并在生物学过程中发挥一些特定功能；所有这些数据将为理解β-连环蛋白调节硬骨鱼器官发生的分子机制提供基础参考。
