Identification, in silico, of molecular targets for phenotype maintenance and muscle growth in fish

• Grant number: 21/08049-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2021
• End date: July 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Maeli Dal Pai
• Grantee: Marcela Gutierrez Pereira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Fish are important for food, are considered as environmental bioindicators and can be used asmodels for research to try understanding human diseases. Skeletal muscle forms most of thebody mass, are source of amino acids for the body, in addition to the great importance in thelocomotion. Muscle growth in vertebrate occurs by hypertrophy and hyperplasia (stratifiedand mosaic). Fish that presents muscle growth by both hyperplasias have indeterminategrowth, such as pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus), and fish that show a predominance ofstratified hyperplasia, are considered as determined growth fish, such as zebrafish (Daniorerio). Although numerous studies have been carried out over the years, the mechanisms thatcontrol muscle growth are not well understood. In this sense, omics analysis are good toolsthat provide a global view of genes that coordinate complex processes, such as muscle growth.Furthermore, using omics data from public banks has been an interesting strategy that canprovide new information about the biological networks involved with the control of the musclephenotype and growth, which have not been explored, yet. Through a meta-analysisperformed by our research group, using transcriptomic data from fish skeletal muscle, showedthe ribosomal gene rps27a, the cell cycle genes, cdkn1a, pcna and ccnd1, as well as the eef1a2gene interactions with strong interactions in fish with different types of growth. Thus, carryingout the laboratory validation of these genes associated as ribosomal proteins in the skeletalmuscle of fish with determined and indeterminate growth will be of great value in thecharacterization of these processes, considering that these vertebrates are exposed to theaction of various extrinsic factors, such as a food restriction. The hypothesis of our work is thatfish with determined growth, such as zebra fish, have a lower expression of factors related toribosomal biogenesis when compared to fish with indeterminate growth, such as pacu, aspecies that has mandatory importance for the productive sector. Also, these factors can causeskeletal muscle hyperplasia and hypertrophy during fasting and re-feeding conditions. Theaims of our study are: 1. Evaluate the gene expression of the rps27a, cdkn1a and pcna gene injuvenile pacus, fish of indeterminate growth, after fasting and posterior feeding, by RTq-PCR.2. Evaluate the gene expression of the same genes, in normal condition, in fish withdetermined growth (zebra fish) and indeterminate growth (pacu), by RTq-PCR. 3. Explore, insilico, other genes identified through meta-analysis as potential regulators of phenotypemaintenance and muscle growth, using Bioinformatics tools.