Transcriptional Activity of an Estrogen Receptor β Subtype in the Medaka Oryzias dancena

In vertebrate reproductive system, estrogen receptor (ER) plays a pivotal role in mediation of estrogenic signaling pathways. In the present study, we report the cDNA cloning, expression analysis, and transcriptional activity of ERβ1 subtype from medaka Oryzias dancena. The deduced O. dancena ERβ1 (odERβ1; 519 amino acids) contained six characteristic A/B to E/F domains with very short activation function 2 region (called AF2). A phylogenetic analysis indicated that odERβ1 was highly conserved among teleost ERβ1 subgroup. A conventional RT-PCR revealed that the odERβ1 transcripts were widely distributed in the multiple tissues, the ovary, brain, gill, intestine, kidney, and muscle. Further, the relatively higher odERβ1 expressions in the ovary and brain were clearly reproduced in RT-qPCR assay. When HA-fused odERβ1 expression vector was transfected into HEK293 cells, an immunoreactivity for odERβ1 was mainly detected in the nucleus part. Finally, an estrogen responsive element driven luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that the transcriptional activity of odERβ1 significantly increased by estradiol-17β (E2) in a dose dependent manner (p<0.05). However, fold-activation of odERβ1 in the presence of E2 was markedly weak, when it compared with those of O. latipes ERβ1. Taken together, these data suggest that odERβ1 represents a functional variant of teleost ERβ subtype and provides a basic tool allowing future studies examining the function of F domain of ERβ1 subtype and expanding our knowledge of ERβ evolution.