To examine the role of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) in glucose homeostasis in the diabeteslike experimental model of carnivorous fish, we analysed postprandial variations and the effect of starvation, ration size and diet composition on the regulation of G6Pase expression at the enzyme activity and mRNA level in the liver of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata ). G6Pase expression increased in long-term starved or energy-restricted fish. In contrast to data reported for other fish species, short-term regulation of G6Pase expression was found in regularly fed S. aurata. G6Pase mRNA levels were lowest between 4 and 15 h after food intake, whereas minimal enzyme activity was observed 10 -15 h postprandially. Alterations of plasma glucose levels affect G6Pase in mammals. However, the carbohydrate content of the diet did not affect hepatic expression of G6Pase in S. aurata, suggesting that a different molecular mechanism is involved in the control of G6Pase expression in fish. Although G6Pase was unaffected, highcarbohydrate low-protein diets increased glucokinase (GK) expression and thus allowed a metabolic adaptation favouring glycolysis over gluconeogenesis. Interestingly, only the nutritional conditions that promoted variations in the blood glucose levels resulted in changes in the hepatic expression of G6Pase. These findings indicate a concerted regulation of G6Pase and GK expression and suggest that the direction and rate of the glucose -glucose-6-phosphate substrate cycle flux is finely regulated in the liver of S. aurata, challenging the role attributed to deficient regulation of G6Pase or GK expression in the low ability of carnivorous fish to metabolize glucose.

6-Phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (PFKFB) catalyzes the synthesis and degradation of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate, a key modulator of glycolysis-gluconeogenesis. To gain insight into the molecular mechanism behind hormonal and nutritional regulation of PFKFB expression, we have cloned and characterized the proximal promoter region of the liver isoform of PFKFB (PFKFB1) from gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Transient transfection of HepG2 cells with deleted gene promoter constructs and electrophoretic mobility shift assays allowed us to identify a sterol regulatory element (SRE) to which SRE binding protein-1a (SREBP-1a) binds and transactivates PFKFB1 gene transcription. Mutating the SRE box abolished SREBP-1a binding and transactivation. The in vivo binding of SREBP-1a to the SRE box in the S. aurata PFKFB1 promoter was confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. There is a great deal of evidence for a postprandial rise of PFKB1 mRNA levels in fish and rats. Consistently, starved-to-fed transition and treatment with glucose or insulin increased SREBP-1 immunodetectable levels, SREBP-1 association to PFKFB1 promoter, and PFKFB1 mRNA levels in the piscine liver. Our findings demonstrate involvement of SREBP-1a in the transcriptional activation of PFKFB1, and we conclude that SREBP-1a may exert a key role mediating postprandial activation of PFKFB1 transcription.

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Herein, we report cloning and subcellular localization of two alanine aminotransferase (ALT) isozymes, cALT and mALT, from liver of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). CHO cells transfected with constructs expressing cALT or mALT as C- or N-terminal fusion with the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) showed that cALT is cytosolic, whereas mALT localized to mitochondria. Fusion of EGFP to mALT N-terminus or removal of amino acids 1-83 of mALT avoided import into mitochondria, supporting evidence that the mALT N-terminus contains a mitochondrial targeting signal. The amino acid sequence of mALT is the first reported for a mitochondrial ALT in animals.

Increase in glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit (G6Pase, G6pc) transcription enhances hepatic glucose production in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). The fact that carnivorous fish is an alternative model to study NIDDM led us to clone and characterise the first G6pc promoter region reported for fish and non-mammalian animals. The 58-flanking region of G6pc from gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) was isolated by chromosome walking. With SMART RACE-PCR, the transcription start site was located 106 base pairs (bp) upstream of the translational start. Transfection analysis in HepG2 cells located a functional promoter in the 850 bp 58-flanking isolated fragment (positions -770 to +80 relative to the transcription start). Sequential 58-deletion analysis of the promoter fragment revealed that a core functional promoter for basal transcription is comprised within the 190 bp upstream of the transcription start site. In vivo, glucose and insulin reduced G6Pase mRNA levels in the fish liver. Transfection experiments in HepG2 cells showed that insulin repressed S. aurata G6pc under high-glucose conditions. Synergistic activation of piscine G6pc promoter was induced by cotransfection with expression plasmids for hepatocyte nuclear factor-4 (HNF-4 ) and peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor-coactivator-1 (PGC-1 ). No direct relationship was found between PGC-1 coactivation of HNF-4 transactivation and the repressive effect of insulin. Interestingly, insulin hardly affected G6pc promoter activity in the absence of glucose, suggesting that a reduced capacity of insulin-dependent repression of piscine G6pc may lead to insulin resistance in carnivorous fish.