ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2019, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (11): 2365-2370.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2019.11.022

• RESEARCH NOTES • Previous Articles    

Effect of Amylin on the Expression of Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein in Mouse Brain

CAO Xiaojuan1, LI Qiang2, FAN Kuikui2, PAN Deng2, LIU Haodong1, WANG Kun3, HAI Rihan1, DU Chenguang1,2*   

  1. 1. Vocational and Technical College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Baotou 014109, China;
    2. College of Veterinary Medicine, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China;
    3. Institute of Grain and Oil Crops, Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050000, China
  • Received:2019-05-29 Online:2019-11-23 Published:2019-11-23

Abstract: This study aims to localize the distribution of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein in the brain of small mice, and to preliminarily investigate whether amylin affects the expression of StAR in the brain of small mice. C57BL/6 strain mice were purchased and fed under standard environment for one month. The offspring were fed for seven weeks. Nine male mice with similar weight and health status were selected as experimental animals, they were randomly divided into 3 groups:normal saline control group, amylin injection group and amylin + AC187 (amylin specific inhibitor) injection group. After 3 hours' continuous injection according to body weight (100 μg·kg-1), brain tissue was dissected. The distribution of StAR in brain was studied by immunofluorescence staining, and the expression of StAR in different groups was compared by Western blot. The results showed that StAR immunopositive signals were mainly expressed in zone incerta (ZI), sporadically distributed in locus coeruleus (LC), ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) and dorsal raphe nucleus (DR). Compared with the control group, intraperitoneal injection of amylin significantly reduced the expression of StAR in ZI (P<0.01); and amylin +AC187 significantly inhibited the effect of amylin on StAR expression in ZI (P<0.01). The results showed that intraperitoneal injection of amylin could significantly inhibit the expression of StAR in ZI. StAR is a rate-limiting enzyme that regulating steroid hormones, we speculate that amylin can not only regulate food intake and energy metabolism, but also affect the synthesis rate of steroids in the central nervous system by regulating the expression of StAR.

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