Abstract
Maintenance of the energy balance is indispensable for cell survival and function. Adenylate kinase (Ak) is a ubiquitous enzyme highly conserved among many organisms. Ak plays an essential role in energy regulation by maintaining adenine nucleotide homeostasis in cells. However, its role at the whole organism level, especially in animal behavior, remains unclear. Here, we established a model using medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) to examine the function of Ak in environmental adaptation. Medaka overexpressing the major Ak isoform Ak1 exhibited increased locomotor activity compared to that of the wild type. Interestingly, this increase was temperature dependent. Our findings suggest that cellular energy balance can modulate locomotor activity.
Highlights
Energy homeostasis is crucial for survival and the maintenance of cell function
Overexpression of Ak1 in green fluorescent protein (GFP)-positive F2 medaka was confirmed by quantitative Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (Fig 1F)
Behavioral assays of the medaka larvae revealed that Ak1-OE larvae exhibited increased locomotor activity compared with that of the WT larvae at 25 ̊C, and the difference between the Ak1-OE and WT larvae was most obvious on the last day of the experiment (Fig 2D)
Summary
Energy homeostasis is crucial for survival and the maintenance of cell function. Disruption of energy balance is suggested to be associated with many conditions, including obesity, heart failure, and neurodegeneration [1,2,3,4]. Adenylate kinase (Ak) is an essential enzyme found in nearly every organism because of its crucial role in cellular energy metabolism [4,5,6,7]. AK1 is the major isoform of AK and is expressed in the cytosol of most human tissues, with high levels in the brain, the heart, skeletal muscles, and erythrocytes. Several reports have demonstrated the importance of Ak1 in metabolic stress conditions [9,10,11]. The role of Ak1 at the whole organism level, especially in animal behavior, remains unclear
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
