Identificação molecular e análise do padrão de expressão tecidual dos genes relacionados às sirtuínas em zebrafish

摘要

First identified in Saccharomyces cerevisie as silent information regulators (SIRs) sirtuins (SIRTs) are widely distributed in all phyla of life. These large and diverse class III histone deacetylases (HDACs) comprise a family of NAD+-dependent protein deacetylases that catalyze mono-ADP-ribosyl transfer and/or deacetylation, and are considered a highly conserved family of proteins. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a freshwater fish widely used as model organism in many research areas. Characteristics such as low costs of breeding and maintenance, easy water-soluble drugs administration and rapid adaptation to new environments, among others, made the zebrafish a suitable model organism for studying many human diseases; including aging-associated disorders. Despite its promising use as a vertebrate model of aging, little is known about the presence of sirtuin-related genes in zebrafish, which has been considered an important research target for its therapeutics potential. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify all sirtuin-related genes and to map their expression patterns in nine different tissues of adult zebrafish. Total RNA was extracted from tissues samples of male and female zebrafish. RT-PCR reactions were performed under optimized conditions for expression pattern analysis of the sirtuins-related genes, previously identified using NCBI-Blast searches. Results showed the existence of eight sirtuins-related genes, including two paralogs. Each gene presented a unique expression pattern, illustrating their wide tissue distribution. In order to test a modulatory effect on gene expression of the sirtuin members, we exposed fish to resveratrol and the results demonstrated an alteration of the expression levels of some sirtuins. In this sense, we suggest that new drugs potentially able to modulate sirtuins expression could be tested using the system here described, aiming, in the future, to develop more selective therapies for age-associated disorders