Data for amino acid alignment of Japanese stingray melanocortin receptors with other gnathostome melanocortin receptor sequences, and the ligand selectivity of Japanese stingray melanocortin receptors.

This article contains structure and pharmacological characteristics of melanocortin receptors (MCRs) related to research published in "Characterization of melanocortin receptors from stingray Dasyatis akajei, a cartilaginous fish" (Takahashi et al., 2016) [1]. The amino acid sequences of the stingray, D. akajei, MC1R, MC2R, MC3R, MC4R, and MC5R were aligned with the corresponding melanocortin receptor sequences from the elephant shark, Callorhinchus milii, the dogfish, Squalus acanthias, the goldfish, Carassius auratus, and the mouse, Mus musculus. These alignments provide the basis for phylogenetic analysis of these gnathostome melanocortin receptor sequences. In addition, the Japanese stingray melanocortin receptors were separately expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells, and stimulated with stingray ACTH, α-MSH, ß-MSH, γ-MSH, δ-MSH, and ß-endorphin. The dose response curves reveal the order of ligand selectivity for each stingray MCR.

Characterization of melanocortin receptors from stingray Dasyatis akajei, a cartilaginous fish.

Melanocortin (MC) systems are composed of MC peptides such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), several molecular forms of melanocyte-stimulating hormones (MSHs) and MC receptors (MCRs). Here we demonstrated that the cartilaginous fish, Dasyatis akajei (stingray) expresses five subtypes of MCR genes-mc1r to mc5r-as in the case of teleost and tetrapod species. This is the first evidence showing the presence of the full repertoire of melanocortin receptors in a single of cartilaginous fish. Expression of respective stingray mcr cDNAs in Chinese hamster ovary cells revealed that Des-acetyl-α-MSH exhibited cAMP-producing activity indistinguishable to ACTH(1-24) on MC1R and MC2R, while the activity of Des-acetyl-α-MSH on MC3R, MC4R, and MC5R were similar to or slightly greater than that of ACTH(1-24). Notably, in contrast to the other vertebrates, MC2R did not require coexpression with a melanocortin receptor-2 accessory protein 1 (mrap1) cDNA for functional expression. One of the roles of MC system resides in regulation of the pituitary-interrenal (PI) axis-a homologue of tetrapod pituitary-adrenal axis. In stingray, interrenal tissues were shown to express mc2r and mc5r as major MCR genes. These results established the presence of functional PI axis in stingray at the level of receptor molecule. While MC2R participates in adrenal functions together with MRAP1 in tetrapod species, the fact that sensitivity of MC5R to Des-acetyl-α-MSH and ACTH(1-24) were two order of magnitude higher than MC2R without coexpression with MRAP1 suggested that MC5R could play a more important role than MC2R to transmit signals conveyed by ACTH and MSHs if MRAP1 is really absent in the stingray.

Association of apolipoprotein B, LDL-C and vascular stiffness in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

AIMS: LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) is the current lipid standard for cardiovascular disease (CVD)-risk assessment in type 1 diabetes. Apolipoprotein B (apoB) may be helpful to further stratify CVD risk. We explored the association between apoB and pulse wave velocity (PWV) to determine if apoB would improve CVD-risk stratification, especially in type 1 diabetes adolescents with borderline LDL-C (100-129 mg/dL). We hypothesized that type 1 diabetes adolescents with borderline LDL-C and elevated apoB (≥90 mg/dL) would have increased PWV compared to those with borderline LDL-C and normal apoB (<90 mg/dL), and that apoB would explain more of the variability of PWV than alternative lipid indices. METHODS: Fasting lipids, including apoB, were collected in 267 adolescents, age 12-19 years, with diabetes duration >5 years and HbA1c 8.9 ± 1.6 %. Triglyceride to HDL-C ratio (TG/HDL-C) and nonHDL-cholesterol (nonHDL-C) were calculated. PWV was measured in the carotid-femoral segment. RESULTS: ApoB, nonHDL-C and TG/HDL-C correlated with PWV (p < 0.0001). ApoB, nonHDL-C and TG/HDL-C remained significantly associated with PWV in fully adjusted models. In adolescents with borderline LDL-C (n = 61), PWV was significantly higher in those with elevated apoB than in those with normal apoB (5.6 ± 0.6 vs. 5.2 ± 0.6 m/s, p < 0.01) and also remained significant after adjustment for CVD-risk factors (p = 0.0002). Moreover, in those with borderline LDL-C, apoB explained more of the variability of PWV than nonHDL-C and TG/HDL-C. CONCLUSION: Elevated apoB is associated with increased arterial stiffness in type 1 diabetes adolescents. Measurement of apoB in addition to LDL-C may be helpful in stratifying CVD risk in type 1 diabetes adolescents, especially in those with borderline LDL-C.

The association between vitamin D and vascular stiffness in adolescents with and without type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D deficiency is common and associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a marker of vascular stiffness associated with CVD. We hypothesized that Vitamin D (25 (OH) D) levels would be inversely associated with PWV in youth with and without type 1 diabetes (T1D). STUDY DESIGN: Comparisons were made between adolescents with T1D (n = 211; age = 17.5 ± 2.3 years; diabetes duration = 10.9 ± 3.2 years; A1c = 9.1 ± 1.7%) and non-DM controls (n = 67; age = 16.9 ± 1.9 years). PWV was measured in the carotid-femoral segment (Sphygmocor Vx, AtCor Medical, Lisle, IL). RESULTS: Vitamin D levels were similar in adolescents with T1D and controls (27.7 ± 0.7 v. 26.0 ± 1.3 ng/ml; p = 0.26). Vitamin D was significantly inversely associated with PWV after adjusting for age, sex, quarter of the year, and race-ethnicity in adolescents with T1D (beta = -0.01 ± 0.004, p = 0.02) but not in the non-DM adolescents (beta = -0.008 ± 0.008, p = 0.32). Vitamin D remained significantly associated with PWV after additionally adjusting for hs-CRP in adolescents with T1D (-0.01 ± 0.004, p = 0.01). After adjusting for BMI z-score, lipids, or blood pressure, the relationship of Vitamin D with PWV was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D levels were inversely associated with PWV in adolescents with T1D, but not independently of BMI, lipids, or blood pressure. Our data contrast with other reports and suggest further research is indicated to determine if Vitamin D supplementation would be beneficial to lower CVD risk in adolescents with T1D with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency.

Evolution of melanocortin receptors in cartilaginous fish: melanocortin receptors and the stress axis in elasmobranches.

There is general agreement that the presence of five melanocortin receptor genes in tetrapods is the result of two genome duplications that occurred prior to the emergence of the gnathostomes, and at least one local gene duplication that occurred early in the radiation of the ancestral gnathostomes. Hence, it is assumed that representatives from the extant classes of gnathostomes (i.e., Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygii, Sarcopterygii) should also have five paralogous melanocortin genes. Current studies on cartilaginous fishes indicate that while there is evidence for five paralogous melanocortin receptor genes in this class, to date all five paralogs have not been detected in the genome of a single species. This mini-review will discuss the ligand selectivity properties of the melanocortin-3 receptor of the elephant shark (subclass Holocephali) and the ligand selectivity properties of the melanocortin-3 receptor, melanocortin-4 receptor, and the melanocortin-5 receptor of the dogfish (subclass Elasmobranchii). The potential relationship of these melanocortin receptors to the hypothalamus/pituitary/interrenal axis will be discussed.

Identification of an MRAP-independent melanocortin-2 receptor: functional expression of the cartilaginous fish, Callorhinchus milii, melanocortin-2 receptor in CHO cells.

Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the genome of the cartilaginous fish, Callorhynchus milii (elephant shark), encodes a melanocortin-2 receptor (MC2R) ortholog. Expression of the elephant shark mc2r cDNA in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells revealed that trafficking to the plasma membrane and functional activation of the receptor do not require coexpression with an exogenous melanocortin receptor-2 accessory protein (mrap) cDNA. Ligand selectivity studies indicated that elephant shark MC2R-transfected CHO cells produced cAMP in a dose-dependent manner when stimulated with either human ACTH (1-24) or [Nle(4), d-Phe(7)]-MSH. Furthermore, the order of ligand selectivity when elephant shark MC2R-transfected CHO cells were stimulated with cartilaginous fish melanocortins was as follows: ACTH (1-25) = γ-MSH = δ-MSH > αMSH = ß-MSH. Elephant shark MC2R is the first vertebrate MC2R ortholog to be analyzed that does not require melanocortin receptor-2 accessory protein 1 for functional activation. In addition, elephant MC2R is currently the only MC2R ortholog that can be activated by either ACTH- or MSH-sized ligands. Hence, it would appear that MC2R dependence on melanocortin receptor-2 accessory protein 1 for functional activation and the exclusive selectivity of this melanocortin receptor for ACTH are features that emerged after the divergence of the ancestral cartilaginous fishes and the ancestral bony fishes more than 400 million years ago.

Functional expression of Squalus acanthias melanocortin-5 receptor in CHO cells: ligand selectivity and interaction with MRAP.

The melanocortin-5 receptor (MC(5)) of the dogfish Squalus acanthias (SacMC(5) receptor) can be functionally expressed in CHO cells in the absence of the co-expression of an exogenous MRAP cDNA. Both human ACTH(1-24) and dogfish ACTH(1-25) were much better stimulators of the SacMC(5) receptor than any of the mammalian or dogfish MSH ligands that were tested. The order of ligand selectivity for the dogfish melanocortins was ACTH(1-25)>αMSH>γ-MSH=δ-MSH>ß-MSH. Unlike mammalian MC(5) receptors, the functional expression of the SacMC(5) receptor was not negatively impacted when the receptor was co-expressed with a cartilaginous fish (Callorhinchus milii) MRAP2 cDNA. However, co-expression with either mouse mMRAP1 or zebrafish zfMRAP1 increased the sensitivity of SacMC(5) receptor for hACTH(1-24) by at least one order of magnitude. Hence, SacMC(5) receptor has the potential to interact with MRAP1 orthologs and in this regard behaved more like a melanocortin MC(2) receptor ortholog than a melanocortin MC(5) receptor ortholog. These observations are discussed in light of the evolution of the melanocortin receptor gene family in cartilaginous fish, and the physiological implications of these observations are considered.

Functional expression of frog and rainbow trout melanocortin 2 receptors using heterologous MRAP1s.

Analysis of the functional expression of the melanocortin 2 receptor (MC2R) from a rather broad spectrum of vertebrates indicates that MC2R is exclusively selective for the ligand, ACTH, and the melanocortin receptor accessory protein 1 (MRAP1) is required for high affinity ACTH binding and activation of MC2R. A phylogenetic analysis of MRAP1 suggested that tetrapod sequences and bony fish sequences may represent two distinct trends in the evolution of the mrap1 gene. To test this hypothesis, a frog (Xenopus tropicalis) MC2R was expressed in CHO cells either in the presence of a tetrapod (mouse) MRAP1 or a bony fish (zebrafish) MRAP1. The response of frog MC2R to different concentrations of human ACTH(1-24) was more robust in the presence of mouse MRAP1 than in the presence of zebrafish MRAP1. Conversely, the cAMP response mediated by the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) MC2R was almost twofold higher and occurred at 1000-fold lower ACTH concentration in the presence of zebrafish MRAP1 than in the presence of mouse MRAP1. Collectively, these experiments raise the possibility that at least two distinct trends have emerged in the co-evolution of MC2R/MRAP1 interactions during the radiation of the vertebrates.

Observations on the ligand selectivity of the melanocortin 2 receptor.

The melanocortin 2 receptor (MC2R) is unique in terms of ligand selectivity and in vitro expression in mammalian cell lines as compared to the other four mammalian MCRs. It is well established that ACTH is the only melanocortin ligand that can activate the ACTH receptor (i.e., melanocortin 2 receptor). Recent studies have provided new insights into the presence of a common binding site for the HFRW motif common to all melanocortin ligands. However, the activation of the melanocortin 2 receptor requires an additional amino acid motif that is only found in the sequence of ACTH. This mini-review will focus on these two topics and provide a phylogenetic perspective on the evolution of MC2R ligand selectivity.