Department of Nursing, Tzu Hui Institute of Technology, Pingtung 92641, Taiwan, ROC.
Bachelor Degree Program in Marine Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, ROC; Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, ROC.
Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. 2020 Apr;242:110416. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2020.110416. Epub 2020 Feb 1.
Steroid hormones have been proven as a key drive of sex change in sequentially hermaphroditic organisms. However, the upstream mechanism of sex steroid hormones regulation that affect sex change remain unknown. The main glucocorticoid in teleost fish is cortisol, which both regulates steroidogenesis and has antistress action. Thus, cortisol might be one of the prime factors in sex change. In this study, the glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper (GILZ) gene, was proven to have a dramatic effect in orange-spotted groupers (Epinephelus coioides) during sex change at the early stage of gonadal transition. The specific action of the GILZ protein is at the pouch-shaped proliferative spermatogonia instead of the degenerative oocyte at the onset of sex change. Immunohistochemical (IHC) evidence revealed that GILZ performs intensively at undifferentiated spermatogonia in the early testis stage. These results imply that cortisol provokes a rise of GILZ through regulation caused by steroid hormones leading to sex change.
类固醇激素已被证明是雌雄同体生物性别转变的关键驱动因素。然而，影响性别转变的类固醇激素调节的上游机制尚不清楚。硬骨鱼类的主要糖皮质激素是皮质醇，它既能调节类固醇生成，又具有抗应激作用。因此，皮质醇可能是性别转变的主要因素之一。在这项研究中，糖皮质激素诱导亮氨酸拉链（GILZ）基因在卵形生殖腺向精巢转变的早期阶段对橙斑石斑鱼（Epinephelus coioides）的性别转变有显著影响。GILZ 蛋白的特异性作用是在囊状增殖精原细胞而不是在性别转变开始时退化的卵母细胞上。免疫组织化学（IHC）证据表明，GILZ 在早期精巢阶段的未分化精原细胞中强烈表达。这些结果表明，皮质醇通过类固醇激素引起的调节引起 GILZ 的上升，从而导致性别转变。
