ABSTRACT
A member of the multi-gene family, encoding 70 kD stress proteins, was identified from the common carp (Cyprimus carpio). Homologies, observed at both nucleic acid and amino acid levels, and also the intronless structure of this gene, strongly suggest that it corresponds to a heat-inducible hsp70 gene in carp. Gene-specific primers were selected and used in RT-PCR reactions to measure the basal hsp70 mRNA levels and to follow the inducer-specific expression of this gene in different tissues during in vivo studies. Carp hsp70 mRNA is not detectable in the brain and muscle, and its concentration is around the limit of detection in the kidney and liver of unstressed animals. The expression of hsp70 is induced by elevated temperature and it responds to Cd treatment in a tissue and time-dependent manner.
Subject(s)
Cadmium/pharmacology , Carps/physiology , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/genetics , HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism , Hot Temperature , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Carps/genetics , HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/classification , Humans , Liver/metabolism , Molecular Sequence Data , Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism , Phylogeny , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Sequence AlignmentABSTRACT
The expression of two metallothionein (MT) genes was followed in carp (Cyprimus carpio) in vivo during exposure to As and Cu. Changes in the levels of MT-1 and MT-2 mRNA in the liver and kidney were detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The inducibility of the two MT isoforms was tissue- and metal-specific. Regardless of whether As or Cu was applied, the liver was more responsive than the kidney. Copper influenced the expression of both isoforms: the MT-1 and MT-2 mRNA levels increased in both the liver and the kidney in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Arsenic affected mostly the MT-2 expression, while the level of the MT-1 transcript did not change significantly in either organ.
