Neuropeptide Y receptor Y8b(npy8br)regulates feeding and digestion in Japanese medaka(Oryzias latipes)larvae:evidence from gene knockout

Neuropeptide Y receptor Y8(NPY8R)is a fish-specific receptor with two subtypes,NPY8AR and NPY8BR.Changes in expression levels during physiological processes or in vivo regulation after ventricular injection suggest that NPY8BR plays an important role in feeding regulation;this has been found in only a few fish,at present.In order to better understand the physiological function of npy8br,especially in digestion,we used clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats(CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9(Cas9)technology to generate npy8br-/-japanese medaka(Oryzias latipes).We found that the deletion of npy8br in medaka larvae affected their feeding and digestion ability,ultimately affecting their growth.Specifically,npy8br deficiency in medaka larvae resulted in decreased feed intake and decreased expression levels of orexigenic genes(npy and agrp).npy8br-/-medaka larvae fed for 10 d(10th day of feeding)still had incompletely digested brine shrimp(Artemia nauplii)in the digestive tract 8 h after feeding,the messenger RNA(mRNA)expression levels of digestion-related genes(amy,lpl,ctra,and ctrb)were significantly decreased,and the activity of amylase,trypsin,and lipase also significantly decreased.The deletion of npy8br in medaka larvae inhibited the growth and significantly decreased the expression of growth-related genes(gh and igf1).Hematoxylin and eosin(H&E)sections of intestinal tissue showed that npy8br-/-medaka larvae had damaged intestine,thinned intestinal wall,and shortened intestinal villi.So far,this is the first npy8br gene knockout model established in fish and the first demonstration that npy8br plays an important role in digestion.

Knockout of lipoprotein lipase with CRISPR/Cas9 causes severe developmental defects and affects lipid deposition in Japanese medaka(Oryzias latipes)

In mammals,lipoprotein lipase(LPL)has been found to play an important role in lipid mentalismand deposition.LPL deficiency in humans(Homo sapiens)and mice(Mus musculus)tends to cause hypertriglyceridemia.The lpl gene is not expressed in adult mammalian liver,but is in adult fish liver.The functions provided by the lpl gene are diverse in vertebrates.Here,we knocked out the lpl gene in Japanese medaka(Oryzias latipes)with the CRISPR/Cas9 system.The lpl-knockout(KO)homozygous individuals showed severe developmental defects with an extremely emaciated and deformedbody and onlyaccounted for about5%of the F2fish.This is consistentwiththefindings inmicebut disaccords with the results for zebrafish(Danio rerio).Compared with wild-type(WT)madaka,the mRNA level of lpl in lpl-KO heterozygous mutant was significantly higher in the muscle,showed no significant difference in the liver,and was significantly lower in the heart.Under lpl heterozygous deficiency,the relative area of Oil RedO and triglycerides(TG)level in the liver,heart and muscle tissue covaried with levels of lpl mRNA in medaka.The lpl heterozygous deficiency did not affect the levelsofTG,low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)and total cholesterol(TC)in the plasma of medaka,which is inconsistent with the findings in mammals.In general,the lpl gene plays an important role in the growth and development and is closely related to lipid deposition of medaka.