The transcripts of CRF and CRF receptors under fasting stress in Dabry’s sturgeon (Acipenser dabryanus Dumeril)

Abstract Dabry’s sturgeon ( Acipenser dabryanus Dumeril, 1868) belongs to Sturgeon and is distributed throughout the mainstream of the upper Yangtze River. While there is little research on physiological mechanism of Dabry’s sturgeon, such as feeding regulation by the CRF system. At present, CRF is thought to regulate feeding via CRF receptors (CRF-Rs) in several mammals, but relatively few studies of CRF and feeding exist in teleosts. Herein, the transcripts of CRF and CRF-Rs under fasting stress in Dabry’s sturgeon ( Acipenser dabryanus Dumeril) have been explored. A full length Dabry’s sturgeon CRF cDNA of 953 bp was identified, which contained a 447 bp open reading frame (ORF). A partial CRF-R1 cDNA of 1053 bp and CRF-R2 cDNA of 906 bp corresponding to the coding sequences (CDS) was obtained. In addition, analysis of the tissue distribution of CRF and CRF-Rs mRNAs revealed they were widely distributed in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Furthermore, periprandial (preprandial and postprandial), fasting, and re-feeding experiments revealed CRF mRNA was significantly increased 1 h and 3 h after feeding and CRF and CRF-Rs transcripts were significantly decreased after 10 days fasting, and significantly increased on re-feeding on day 10. These results suggest that CRF and CRF-Rs might regulate feeding by acting as satiety factors.