Multiple cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) genes in medaka, Oryzias latipes: cloning, tissue distribution and effect of starvation.

The neuropeptide cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) is important in the regulation of food intake in mammals and fish. The tissue distributions of six CART cDNAs (cart ch3, ch4, ch6, ch9, ch11, and ch22) from medaka, Oryzias latipes, were cloned and the effect of starvation on their expression was examined. As in other species, medaka cart ch3, ch4, ch6, ch9, and ch22 consisted of three exons, while medaka cart ch11 contained four. The six cysteine residues at the C-terminal end of the CART motif and three-dimensional structure were well conserved in all medaka CART peptides. Tissue distribution analysis revealed that cart ch3, ch4, ch6, ch11, and ch22 were primarily expressed in the brain, but that the highest rates of cart ch9 expression occurred in the skin, suggesting different functions among the homologous genes. Although CART ch3 mRNA levels decreased in response to 17 days starvation, these levels were restored by re-feeding. However, the finding that the five other CART mRNAs did not respond to starvation suggests that only CART ch3 has an anorexigenic function in medaka.