Proteomic approach to skin regeneration in a marine teleost. Modulation by oestradiol-17β

Skin and scale formation and regeneration in teleosts have mainly been described from a morphological perspective, and few studies of the underlying molecular events exist. The present study evaluates (1) the change in the skin proteome during its regeneration in a marine teleost fish (gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata) and (2) the impact of oestradiol-17β (Ε2) on regeneration and the involvement of oestrogen receptor (ER) isoforms. Thirty-five candidate proteins were differentially expressed (p<0.05) between intact and regenerated skin proteome 5 days after scale removal, and 27 proteins were differentially expressed after E2 treatment. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering of the skin proteome revealed that the skin treated with E2 clustered most closely to intact skin, while regenerating untreated skin formed an independent cluster. Gene Ontology classification associated the differentially expressed proteins in E2-treated skin with developmental processes and cellular morphogenesis. The proteins modified during skin regeneration suggest a balance exists between immune response and anatomical repair. Overall, the results indicate that, even after 5 days regeneration, the composition of mature skin is not attained, and endocrine factors, in particular E2, can accelerate wound repair acting possibly via ERβs expressed in the skin-scales. Several candidate proteins probably involved in scale development, osteoglycin, lipocalin2 and lamin A and the transcription factors PHD and grainyhead were identified. Future studies of fish skin regeneration will be required to provide further insight into this multistage process, and the present study indicates it will be useful to explore immune adaptations of epithelia permanently exposed to an aqueous environment.

We thank Antonia Òdena and Eliandre de Oliveira from the ‘Centre Científic i Tecnològic’ (CCIT-UB) for valuable help during proteomic analyses. This research was funded by an AQUAGENOME (SSP8, no. 044481) resource exchange grant and pluriannual funding to CCMAR from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) and XRAq projects (Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain). AI was recipient of a research grant from the Spanish Government (Programa de Ayudas de Mobilidad José Castillejo). PP was recipient of a fellowship SFRH/BPD/25247/2005 (PP) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).