Adult teleost heart expresses two distinct troponin C paralogs: cardiac TnC and a novel and teleost-specific ssTnC in a chamber- and temperature-dependent manner
- Authors
- Genge, C.E., Davidson, W.S., and Tibbits, G.F.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-130806-10
- Date
- 2013
- Source
- Physiological Genomics 45(18): 866-75 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- myocardial contraction, evolution of troponin proteins, teleost atrial function
- MeSH Terms
-
- Acclimatization
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Cold Temperature
- Fishes/metabolism*
- Gene Expression Regulation*
- Genome
- Heart Ventricles/metabolism
- Humans
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Muscles
- Myocardial Contraction/physiology
- Myocardium/metabolism*
- Phenotype
- Phylogeny
- Protein Isoforms
- RNA, Messenger/metabolism
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Species Specificity
- Temperature
- Troponin C/chemistry
- Troponin C/metabolism*
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 23881286 Full text @ Physiol. Genomics
The teleost-specific whole genome duplication created multiple copies of genes allowing for sub-functionalization of isoforms. In this study, we show that the teleost cardiac Ca2+-binding troponin C (TnC) is the product of two distinct genes: cardiac TnC (cTnC, TnnC1a) and a fish-specific slow skeletal TnC (ssTnC, TnnC1b). The ssTnC gene is novel to teleosts as mammals have a single gene commonly referred as cTnC but which is also expressed in slow skeletal muscle. In teleosts, the data strongly indicate that these are two TnC genes are different paralogs. Because we determined that ssTnC exists across many teleosts but not in basal ray-finned fish (e.g. bichir), we propose that these paralogs are the result of an ancestral tandem gene duplication persisting only in teleosts. Quantification of mRNA levels was used to demonstrate distinct expression localization patterns of the paralogs within the chambers of the heart. In the adult zebrafish acclimated at 28°C, ssTnC mRNA levels are two-fold greater than cTnC mRNA levels in the atrium, whereas cTnC mRNA was almost exclusively expressed in the ventricle. Meanwhile, rainbow trout acclimated at 5°C showed cTnC mRNA levels in both chambers significantly greater than ssTnC. Distinct responses to temperature acclimation were also quantified in both adult zebrafish and rainbow trout, with mRNA in both chambers shifting to express higher levels of cTnC in 18°C acclimated zebrafish and 5°C acclimated trout. Possible sub-functionalization of TnC isoforms may provide insight into how teleosts achieve physiological versatility in chamber-specific contractile properties.