Molecular cloning of the bullfrog kisspeptin receptor GPR54 with high sensitivity to Xenopus kisspeptin

Jung Sun Moon, Yeo Reum Lee, Dayoung Oh, Jong Ik Hwang, Ju Yeon Lee, Jae Il Kim, Hubert Vaudry, Hyuk Bang Kwon, Jae Young Seong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

Kisspeptin and its receptor, GPR54, play important roles in mammalian reproduction and cancer development. However, little is known about their function in nonmammalian species. In the present study, we have isolated the cDNA encoding the kisspeptin receptor, GPR54, from the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana. The bullfrog GPR54 (bfGPR54) cDNA encodes a 379-amino acid heptahelical G protein-coupled receptor. bfGPR54 exhibits 45-46% amino acid identity with mammalian GPR54s and 70-74% identity with fish GPR54s. RT-PCR analysis showed that bfGPR54 mRNA is highly expressed in the forebrain, hypothalamus and pituitary. Upon stimulation by synthetic human kisspeptin-10 with Phe-amide residue at the C-terminus (h-Kiss-10F), bfGPR54 induces SRE-luc activity, a PKC-specific reporter, evidencing the PKC-linked signaling pathway of bfGPR54. Using a blast search, we found a gene encoding a kisspeptin-like peptide in Xenopus. The C-terminal decapeptide of Xenopus kisspeptin shows higher amino acid sequence identity to fish Kiss-10s than mammalian Kiss-10s. A synthetic Xenopus kisspeptin peptide (x-Kiss-12Y) showed a higher potency than mammalian Kiss-10s in the activation of bfGPR54. This study expands our understanding of the physiological roles and molecular evolution of kisspeptins and their receptors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)171-179
Number of pages9
JournalPeptides
Volume30
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2009

Keywords

  • Bullfrog
  • GPR54
  • Kisspeptin
  • Ligand selectivity
  • Signaling pathway
  • Xenopus

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Physiology
  • Endocrinology
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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