TY  - JOUR
A1  - Liu, Ruiqi
A1  - Friedrich, Mike
A1  - Hemmen, Katherina
A1  - Jansen, Kerstin
A1  - Adolfi, Mateus C.
A1  - Schartl, Manfred
A1  - Heinze, Katrin G.
T1  - Dimerization of melanocortin 4 receptor controls puberty onset and body size polymorphism
T2  - Frontiers in Endocrinology
N2  - Xiphophorus fish exhibit a clear phenotypic polymorphism in puberty onset and reproductive strategies of males. In X. nigrensis and X. multilineatus, puberty onset is genetically determined and linked to a melanocortin 4 receptor (Mc4r) polymorphism of wild-type and mutant alleles on the sex chromosomes. We hypothesized that Mc4r mutant alleles act on wild-type alleles by a dominant negative effect through receptor dimerization, leading to differential intracellular signaling and effector gene activation. Depending on signaling strength, the onset of puberty either occurs early or is delayed. Here, we show by Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) that wild-type Xiphophorus Mc4r monomers can form homodimers, but also heterodimers with mutant receptors resulting in compromised signaling which explains the reduced Mc4r signaling in large males. Thus, hetero- vs. homo- dimerization seems to be the key molecular mechanism for the polymorphism in puberty onset and body size in male fish.
KW  - fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy
KW  - Förster Resonance Energy Transfer
KW  - Mc4r
KW  - puberty
KW  - Xiphophorus
Y1  - 2023
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/35426
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-354261
SN  - 1664-2392
VL  - 14
ER  -