Involvement of Corticotrophin‐Releasing Hormone and Corticosteroid Receptors in the Brain–Pituitary–Gill of Tilapia During the Course of Seawater Acclimation

Abstract

The mRNA expression of genes for corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and the hormone receptors CRH-receptor/CRH-R, glucocorticoid receptor 1/2 (GR1/2) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) was studied in the brain, pituitary and gill of tilapia (Oreochromis mossambibus) during salinity and handling stress by real-time quantitative-polymerase chain reaction analysis. The results indicated that the transcripts of CRH and CRH-R were increased in the forebrain, midbrain and gill, whereas elevated hypothalamic CRH mRNA suppressed the CRH-R mRNA in the pituitary in seawater (SW) fish. The levels of plasma osmolality and cortisol were significantly increased in SW compared to freshwater fish. The up-regulation of GR1, GR2, MR and α-NKA (Na(+) /K(+) -ATPase) transcripts in SW fish provided evidence that cortisol responds to stress and involves ion-base regulation via the GR1, GR2 and MR receptors in the gill. These data suggest that GR1, GR2 and MR have a pivotal role in the brain and gill. GR1, GR2 and MR expression may be dependent on CRH and cortisol expression in the brain and gill. In addition, we performed in situ hybridisation analysis to localise and differentiate the CRH, CRH-R, GR1, GR2 and MR transcripts in the brain of FW- and SW-acute acclimated tilapia during salinity stress. In almost all transcripts, the hybridisation signal was significantly abundant in the SW-acute acclimated tilapia brain, especially in the dorsal ventral cephalon, dorsal nucleus preopticus pars magnocellularis and dorsal nucleus preopticus pars parvocellularis. Salinity stress induced differential and specific responses in the gill and brain compared to handling stress.