The cDNA cloning and transient expression of an ovary-specific 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase of chickens.

A cDNA clone, pc17bHSD, was obtained from the chicken ovarian cDNA library by its partial homology to the cDNA sequence of the rat 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17beta-HSD). The cDNA insert of pc17bHSD is 979bp long and contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 906bp. The deduced amino acid sequence of the ORF shows 48 and 50% overall identity with those of the rat and the human type-1 17beta-HSD, respectively. Five sequence regions common to the short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase superfamily are well conserved, including the YxxxK sequence motif at the active site. Northern blot hybridization detected a transcript of about 1kb only in ovaries of both sexually immature and mature female chickens. The 17beta-HSD activity, which was highly specific to the interconversion between estrone and estradiol-17beta, was detected in the cytoplasmic fraction of human 293 cells transfected transiently with an expression vector carrying the c17bHSD cDNA sequence, pcDNAI/c17bHSD. From these results, it is concluded that the pc17bHSD is the cDNA clone for the ovary-specific molecular species of 17beta-HSD in chickens.

Expression of five steroidogenic genes including aromatase gene at early developmental stages of chicken male and female embryos.

In the course of avian embryo development, estrogen has been indicated to play a key role in gonadal differentiation by the inhibition of aromatase (P-450arom) that synthesizes estrogen from androgen. Biosynthesis of estrogen requires not only P-450arom but also other enzymes for a steroidogenic pathway. To elucidate gonadal differentiation, the steroidogenic pathway should be studied comprehensively in the early developmental stages including that of sex differentiation. Therefore, in the present study, the expressions of the steroidogenic genes, P-450scc, 3beta-HSD, P-450c17, 17beta-HSD and P-450arom, were measured at the developmental stages (days 2-9 of incubation) of chicken embryos by quantitative RT-PCR. Transcripts for all the genes studied, except for P-450arom were detected in all the developmental stages examined, indicating that mRNAs for the steroidogenic enzymes required to convert cholesterol to androgens are present in the avian embryo before gonadal differentiation. In contrast, P-450arom mRNA was detected in female embryos during days 5-9 of incubation but not in male embryos throughout incubation. The onset of P-450arom gene expression at day 5 coincides with the stage of gonadal differentiation, corroborating the role of estrogen in the process of gonadal differentiation in chicken.

Differential expression of genes for aromatase and estrogen receptor during the gonadal development in chicken embryos.

In birds, differentiation of embryonic gonads is not as strictly determined by the genetic sex as it is in mammals, and can be influenced by early manipulation with a sex steroid hormone. Thus administration of an aromatase inhibitor induces testis development in the genetic female, and administration of estrogen induces a left ovotestis in the genetic male embryo. Another feature of avian gonadogenesis is that only the left ovary develops in most species. Molecular mechanisms underlying these features at the level of gene expression have not been elucidated. In this paper, we present evidence that a gene for aromatase cytochrome P-450, an enzyme required for the last step in the synthesis of estradiol-17beta, is expressed in medullae of the left and right gonads of a female chicken embryo, but not in those of a male chicken embryo, and that an estrogen receptor gene is expressed only in epithelium (and cortex later, in the female) of the left, not the right, gonad of both sexes, but the expression in the male left gonad is temporary and restricted to an early stage of development. Differential expression of these two genes serves well to explain the above features of gonadal development in birds. Furthermore, in ovo administration of estradiol-17beta from the 5th to the 14th day of incubation does not cause expression of the estrogen receptor gene in the right gonad of chicken embryos of either sex, suggesting that the absence of expression of the estrogen receptor gene in the right gonad is not the result of down-regulation, but may be regarded as an important cause of the unilateral ovarian development.

Molecular cloning of acid alpha-glucosidase cDNA of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) and the lack of its mRNA in acid maltase deficient quails.

Acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) hydrolyzes alpha-1, 4 and alpha-1, 6 glucosidic linkages of oligosaccharides and degrades glycogen in the lysosomes. The full-length GAA I cDNA, pQAM8, was isolated from a cDNA library derived from Japanese quail liver. The cDNA is 3569 base pairs long and has an open reading frame capable of coding 932 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence shares 52% identity with human GAA. Transfection of expression vector pETAM8 into COS-7 cells or acid maltase deficient (AMD) quail embryonic fibroblasts increased the level of GAA 20-50-fold. Compared to normal quail, the levels of GAA I mRNA were significantly reduced in the muscle, liver, heart, and brain of AMD quails, suggesting the GAA deficiency in AMD quail is due to a lack of GAA I mRNA. A second GAA II cDNA was identified after probing the cDNA library from the ovarian large follicles of quails with a PCR product derived from cultured quail skin fibroblasts. This clone having 3.1 kb insert, has GAA activity as well (3 to 10 fold increase). This cDNA, designated GAA II, predicted an 873 amino acid polypeptide showing 63% identity to human GAA and 51% identity to the GAA I. The RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that GAA II mRNAs were barely detectable in normal tissues, while they were enhanced to higher levels in AMD tissues. These results suggest that GAA II expression is up-regulated at the transcription levels, and quail GAA gene redundancy performs the same function of satisfying GAA demand at the two different phases represented by normal and AMD.