Evidence for calcium-sensing receptor mediated stanniocalcin secretion in fish

The secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcitonin (CT) in mammals are both tightly regulated by the prevailing levels of extracellular ionic calcium (Ca2+). And, it is now widely recognized that both of these Ca2+ effects are mediated exclusively through a seven transmembrane calcium sensing receptor or CaR. As in the case of PTH and CT, the secretion of stanniocalcin (STC) in fish is tightly regulated by the levels of extracellular Ca2+. Fish STC functions as an anti-hypercalcemic hormone such that a rise in extracellular Ca2+ above the physiological set-point of ∼1.2 mM provokes an immediate secretory response. Whether or not Ca2+-regulated STC secretion in fishes is mediated by similar type of receptor has never been addressed. Here, we have found that Ca2+-stimulated STC secretion in salmon is mimicked by CaR mimetics, pharmacological agents that increase the sensitivity of the CaR to calcium. NPS 467, a small organic molecule that acts as a positive allosteric modulator of the CaR and alters calciotropic hormone secretion in mammals, was examined for effects on serum levels of STC in trout. The IP administration of NPS R-467 had time and dose-dependent stimulatory effects on STC secretion that were indistinguishable from those of Ca2+ loading. The effects of NPS 467 were stereospecific and had no effects on serum CT. NPS 467 induced STC release was also manifested by a downstream physiological response; the inhibition of gill calcium transport. A cDNA clone was amplified from a fish corpuscle of Stannius cDNA library with high homology to the human CaR. RT-PCR revealed that this transcript was also present in gill, kidney, pancreas, brain, muscle and spleen. These findings suggest that Ca2+-stimulated STC secretion in fishes is mediated by a calcium ion-sensing receptor similar to that in mammals.