Cortisol and Copper Induce Metallothionein Expression in Three Tissues of Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) in Organ Culture

Su-Mei Wu ； Chun-Che Chen ； Yi-Chun Lee ； Hsien-Tai Leu ； Nia-Sung Lin

《Zoological Studies》 45卷3期 (2006/07) Pp. 363-370

並列摘要

The aim of this study was to determine the major organ for metallothionein (MT) synthesis among the liver, gills, and intestines, and which organ exhibits the highest heavy metal accumulation. In a review of past studies, some researchers still doubted that the liver contains the highest MT content. We decided to perform an in vitro study, and hypothesized that MT expression is affected by endogenous in vivo factors resulting in an irregular phenomenon. Therefore, in this in vitro study, we compared MT expressions in these 3 important organs. The 3 organs were cultured in L15 media with 100 ng/ml cortisol and 100 μM CuSO4 for 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. The MT contents of the 3 organs appeared to be time dependent from 24 to 72 h, but decreased after 96 h. Hepatic tissue exhibited the highest MT content among the 3 organs. With the cortisol and CuSO4 dose-response tests, a dose-dependent response was only seen in the intestines after treatments with various concentrations of cortisol and CuSO4. When organs were incubated in different culture media for 72 h, the hepatic tissue also showed the highest Cu accumulation. Summarizing these results, we suggest that the liver is the major organ synthesizing MT and accumulating Cu in comparison to the gills and intestines.

並列關鍵字

Metallothionein ； Cortisol ； Copper ； Tilapia ； Organ culture