Joaquin Gutierrez

• University of Barcelona

The pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) is an economically important freshwater fish and a valuable food with high market acceptance. It is undergoing important changes in growth and regulatory metabolism during the ontogeny. Hence, the current study aims to investigate the mRNA expression of the growth hormone (gh)/insulin-like growth factor (igf) axis...

Nowadays, including vegetable ingredients in fish diets without growth effects is common; however, their intestinal oxidative status under these conditions is less known. Five isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets with 75% vegetable oil (VO) inclusion were formulated for juvenile gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). As VO, one diet contained palm oil...

High-fat diets (HFDs) enhance fish growth by optimizing nutrient utilization (i.e., protein-sparing effect); however, their potential negative effects have also encouraged the search for feed additives. This work has investigated the effects of an extract rich in a polyphenolic antioxidant, hydroxytyrosol (HT), supplemented (0.52 g HT/kg feed) in a...

The pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) is a species with a high potential for aquaculture and a valuable food with high market acceptance. The aim of the study was to evaluate the functional ontogeny of digestive enzyme of pikeperch from hatching to 45 days-post fertilization, 777 degree-day (DPF, dd) under culture condition. The average total length (T...

The pikeperch ( Sander lucioperca ) is an economically important freshwater fish and a valuable food with high market acceptance. It is undergoing important changes in growth and regulatory metabolism during the ontogeny. Hence, the current study aims to investigate the mRNA expression of the growth hormone ( gh )/insuline-like growth factor ( igf...

Fish oil is commonly replaced by vegetable oils in sea bream diets, but little is known about their effects on intestinal health regarding oxidative stress biomarkers. The negative effects of lipid peroxidation on digestive mucosa could have consequences in animal nutrition and welfare. In this study, five isonitrogenous (46%) and isolipidic (22%)...

Skeletal muscle is formed by multinucleated myofibers originated by waves of hyperplasia and hypertrophy during myogenesis. Tissue damage triggers a regeneration process including new myogenesis and muscular remodeling. During myogenesis, the fusion of myoblasts is a key step that requires different genes’ expression, including the fusogens myomake...

The dietary inclusion of plant-based products in fish feeds formulation is required for the sustainable development of aquaculture. Moreover, considering functional diets, hydroxytyrosol, one of the major phenolic compounds found in olives (Olea europaea), has been identified as a potential candidate to be used in the aquafeeds industry due to its...

The combination of physical exercise and a balanced diet presents substantial health benefits and could improve fish production. However, the redox balance can be affected by training regimen, dietary macronutrient ratio and their interaction. In this study, we conjointly evaluated the effects of physical activity (by voluntary swimming (VS) or sus...

Adipogenesis is a tightly regulated process, and the involvement of autophagy has been recently proposed in mammalian models. In rainbow trout, two well-defined phases describe the development of primary cultured adipocyte cells: proliferation and differentiation. Nevertheless, information on the transcriptional profile at the onset of differentiat...

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an emerging group of ncRNAs that can modulate gene expression at the transcriptional or translational levels. In the present work, previously published transcriptomic data were used to identify lncRNAs expressed in gilthead sea bream skeletal muscle, and their transcription levels were studied under different phys...

Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factors (GH/IGF axis) regulate somatic growth in mammals and fish, although their action on metabolism is not fully understood in the latter. An intraperitoneal injection of extended-release recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH, Posilac®) was used in gilthead sea bream fingerlings and juveniles to analyse t...

The skeletal muscle is formed by multinucleated myofibers originated by waves of hyperplasia and hypertrophy during myogenesis. Tissue damage triggers a regeneration process including new myogenesis and muscular remodeling. During myogenesis, the fusion of myoblasts is a key step that requires different genes’ expression, including the fusogens Myo...

The physiological and endocrine benefits of sustained exercise in fish were largely demonstrated, and this work examines how the swimming activity can modify the effects of two diets (high-protein, HP: 54% proteins, 15% lipids; high-energy, HE: 50% proteins, 20% lipids) on different growth performance markers in gilthead sea bream juveniles. After...

In contrast to mice or zebrafish, trout exhibits post-larval muscle growth through hypertrophy and formation of new myofibers (hyperplasia). The muscle fibers are formed by the fusion of mononucleated cells (myoblasts) regulated by several muscle-specific proteins such as Myomaker or Myomixer. In this work, we identified a unique gene encoding a My...

Soybeans are one of the most used alternative dietary ingredients in aquafeeds. However, they contain phytoestrogens like genistein (GE), which can have an impact on fish metabolism and health. This study aimed to investigate the in vitro and in vivo effects of GE on lipid metabolism, apoptosis, and autophagy in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)....

The aquaculture sector needs to develop new tools to optimally increase production for feeding, while facing future environmental changing conditions. One of the major improvements in this industry has been reducing the usage of fishmeal and fish oil (FO) in diet formulations to promote a more sustainable production. In this line and considering gl...

The tolerance of fish to fasting offers a model to study the regulatory mechanisms and changes produced when feeding is restored. Gilthead sea bream juveniles were exposed to a 21-days fasting period followed by 2 h to 7-days refeeding. Fasting provoked a decrease in body weight, somatic indexes, and muscle gene expression of members of the Gh/Igf...

This study tests the effects of feeding different vegetable oils (VO) in gilthead sea bream with the aim of improving sustainable aquafeeds. Juveniles were fed ad libitum with ten isonitrogenous (46%) and isolipidic (22%) diets with a 75% fish oil (FO) replacement, differing in VO composition leading to two experimental blocks: fish fed with VO ble...

Myogenesis is a complex two-phase process of proliferation and differentiation, which seems to be greatly conserved in vertebrates. For the first time in fish, we identify the changes that occur in the proteome during this process in a gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) myocyte primary cell culture (on days 4, 8 and 12), using 2-D gel electrophores...

The incidence of skeletal anomalies in reared fish has been translated for years in important economic losses for the aquaculture industry. In the present study, we have analysed the gene expression of extracellular matrix components and transcription factors involved in bone development in gilthead sea bream presenting different skeletal anomalies...

Fish are rich in n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), such as eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, thus they have a great nutritional value for human health. In this study, the adipogenic potential of fatty acids commonly found in fish oil (EPA and DHA) and vegetable oils (linoleic (LA) and alpha-linolenic (ALA)...

Effects of ethanol, fatty acids and antagonists treatments on cell viability. Viability of gilthead sea bream bone-derived cells at day 4 determined by means of the MTT assay. Cells were treated (A) for 24 h with different concentrations of ethanol; or for 6 h (B) with different concentrations of selected fatty acids (EPA and LA) or were left untre...

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The enhancement of the endocrine growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) system by the treatment with a sustained release formulation of a recombinant bovine GH (rBGH), is a good strategy to investigate growth optimization in aquaculture fish species. To further deepen into the knowledge of rBGH effects in fish and to estimate the...

World population is expected to increase to approximately 9 thousand million people by 2050 with a consequent food security decline. Besides, climate change is a major challenge that humanity is facing, with a predicted rise in mean sea surface temperature of more than 2 ºC during this century. This study aims to determine whether a rearing tempera...

β2-adrenoceptors are a subtype of G-protein coupled receptors whose activation leads to increased protein synthesis and decreased degradation in mammalian skeletal muscle, causing hypertrophy. In this study, we compared the effects of the classical β2-agonist noradrenaline (NA) with two representatives of a new generation of agonists (formoterol, F...

Exercise training in fish leads to enhanced growth, mostly in salmonids, but also in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Most of the published studies have involved juveniles or adult fish, but little is known about the effects of exercise on early stages of fish growth. Our study aimed to examine the effect of sustained swimming on the growth of g...

Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are the main growth regulators in vertebrates, and the circulating levels of IGF-I are considered very good indicators of growth potential. However, it is remarkable the absence of studies about GH and IGFs secretagogues in fish that could induce optimal plasma levels. With the objective to...

Response of the musculoskeletal system to fasting and refeeding in gilthead seabream (Sparusaurata) Lavajoo, F., Perelló-Amorós, M., Vélez, E.J., Sánchez-Moya, A., Balbuena-Pecino, S., Ortís, J., Riera-Heredia, N. Navarro, I., Capilla, E., and Gutiérrez J. Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biology, University of Ba...

Ghrelin is involved in the regulation of growth in vertebrates through controlling different functions, such as feed intake, metabolism, intestinal activity or growth hormone (Gh) secretion. The aim of this work was to identify the sequences of preproghrelin and Ghrelin receptors (ghsrs), and to study their responses to different nutritional condit...

This study aimed to characterize the molecules involved in osteogenesis in seabream and establish using in vitro/in vivo approaches the responsiveness of selected key genes to temperature. The impact of a temperature drop from 23 to 13 °C was evaluated in juvenile fish thermally imprinted during embryogenesis. Both, in vitro/in vivo, Fib1a, appeare...

ABSTRACT The freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium nipponense is an invasive species which has recently been reported in the Anzali wetland, Iran. It presents good tolerance and adaption in this wetland ecosystem. This study examined certain aspects of feeding of M. nipponense in three habitats of this wetland. Shrimps were randomly sampled from April 2...

The present study evaluates the transcriptional regulation of lipid metabolism, adiponectin system and oxidative stress genes in two rainbow trout lines selected over seven generations for low (lean line, LL) or high (fat line, FL) muscle adiposity, and subjected to different fasting regimes. Under feeding conditions, FL fish had higher muscle lipi...

Proteolytic systems exert an important role in vertebrate muscle controlling protein turnover, recycling of amino acids (AA) or its use for energy production, as well as other functions like myogenesis. In fish, proteolytic systems are crucial for the relatively high muscle somatic index they possess, and because protein is the most important dieta...

Correlations between mRNA and protein levels of some cathepsins and calpains in gilthead sea bream during in vitro myogenesis. (A) cathepsin Da (ctsda) with cathepsin D intermediate form (CTSD inter), and (B) calpain 1 (capn1) with CAPN1. Data are from n = 3 independent cultures. The R2 of the linear regression, the Spearman’s rank correlation coef...

Some natural products, known sources of bioactive compounds with a wide range of properties, may have therapeutic values in human health and diseases, as well as agronomic applications. The effect of three compounds of plant origin with well-known dietary antioxidant properties, astaxanthin (ATX), caffeic acid (CA) and hydroxytyrosol (HT), on zebra...

Nucleotide sequences of the primers used to evaluate mRNA abundance by qRT-PCR in rainbow trout. (DOC)

CA and HT increased cell viability but did not affect cell proliferation of rainbow trout adipocytes in primary culture. (A) Quantification of cell viability using MTT assay. (B) Cell proliferation determined by immunocytochemistry of PCNA. Cells were incubated with vehicle plus CA (50 μM), HT (100 μM), or RGZ (1 μM), alone or in combination, or ve...

ZOT as a tool for studying WAT dynamics in different body parts of zebrafish larva. (A) External features of a representative 8 mm SL larva and images of head, viscera, and tail regions under a fluorescence microscope after Nile red staining, using HQ-FITC-BP filter, with adipocytes stained green. Lateral views, anterior part on the left and dorsal...

The growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) endocrine axis is the main growth-regulator system in vertebrates. Some authors have demonstrated the positive effects on growth of a sustained-release formulation of a recombinant bovine GH (rBGH) in different fish species. The aim of this work was to characterize the effects of a single i...

Background Excessive accumulation of adipose tissue in cultured fish is an outstanding problem in aquaculture. To understand the development of adiposity, it is crucial to identify the genes which expression is associated with adipogenic differentiation. Therefore, the transcriptomic profile at different time points (days 3, 8, 15 and 21) along pri...

Numerous environmental pollutants have been identified as potential obesogenic compounds affecting endocrine signaling and lipid homeostasis. Among them, well-known organotins such as tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT), can be found in significant concentrations in aquatic environments. The aim of the present study was to investigate in vitro...

Swimming activity primarily accelerates growth in fish by increasing protein synthesis and energy efficiency. The role of muscle in this process is remarkable and especially important in teleosts, where muscle represents a high percentage of body weight, and by the continuous growth that many fish species present. The aim of this work was to charac...

Aquaculture has become an agronomic activity with noticeable development around the world to respond to the simultaneous decrease of fish captures and the increasing demand of aquatic products for human consumption. However, different problems limit the development of this industry and one of those is the time required for most of the cultured fish...

Research on the regulation of fish muscle physiology and growth was addressed originally by classical in vivo approaches; however, systemic interactions resulted in many questions that could be better considered through in vitro myocyte studies. The first paper published by our group in this field was with Tom Moon on brown trout cardiomyocytes, wh...

During the last decades, adipogenesis has become an emerging field of study in aquaculture due to the relevance of the adipose tissue in many physiological processes and its connection with the endocrine system. In this sense, recent studies have translated into the establishment of preadipocyte culture models from several fish species, sometimes l...

The endocrine system regulates growth mainly through the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) axis and, although exercise promotes growth, little is known about its modulation of these factors. The aim of this work was to characterize the effects of 5 weeks of moderate sustained swimming on the GH-IGFs axis in gilthead sea bream f...

Optimizing aquaculture production requires better knowledge of growth regulation and improvement in diet formulation. A great effort has been made to replace fish meal for plant protein sources in aquafeeds, making necessary the supplementation of such diets with crystalline amino acids (AA) to cover the nutritional requirements of each species. Ly...

In this data article we describe the coding sequence of two IGF-IR paralogues (IGF-IRa and IGF-IRb) obtained from gilthead sea bream embryos. The putative protein architecture (domains and other important motifs) was determined and, amino acid sequences alignment and phylogenetic analysis of both receptors together with IGF-IR orthologues from diff...

Fish growth is strongly influenced by environmental and nutritional factors and changing culture conditions can help optimize it. The importance of early-life experience on the muscle phenotype later in life is well known. Here, we study the effects of 5 weeks of moderate and sustained swimming activity (5 BL s−1) in gilthead sea bream during early...

The proteolytic enzymes involved in normal protein turnover in fish muscle are also responsible for post-mortem softening of the flesh and are therefore potential determinants of product quality. The main enzyme systems involved are calpains, cathepsins, and the ubiquitin-proteasome (UbP). In this study on Sparus aurata (Sa), the coding sequences o...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding frequency on post-prandial pattern of circulating glucose, insulin and IGF-I (insulin-like growth factor-I) in European sea bass (D. labrax). Fish (average body weight 72.1 +/- 2 g) were randomly allocated in 12 tanks, reared in a closed thermo regulated recirculating system and fed a...

In order to investigate how growth and nutritional factors are involved in lipid hydrolysis and storage in fish, we examined the effects of two amino acids (L-leucine and L-arginine) at two different concentrations, and of the growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) also at different doses, on lipid mobilization and gene-relate...

Calpains are non-lysosomal calcium-activated neutral proteases involved in a wide range of cellular processes including muscle proteolysis linked to post-mortem flesh softening. The aims of this study were (a) to characterise several members of the calpain system in gilthead sea bream and (b) to examine their expression in relation to nutritional s...

Herein, we studied whether sustained exercise positively affects growth of gilthead sea bream by alterations in a) plasma concentrations of insulin and IGF-I, b) signaling pathways in muscle, or c) regulation of lipid metabolism. Specifically, we evaluated the effects of moderated swimming (1.5 body lengths per second; BL/s) on the circulating conc...

Ideal nutritional conditions are crucial to sustainable aquaculture due to economic and environmental issues. Here we apply stable isotope analysis as an indicator of fish growth and feeding balance, to define the optimum diet for efficient growing conditions. Juveniles of gilthead sea bream were fed with six iso-energetic diets differing in protei...

A glucose tolerance test was performed in European sea bass juveniles to evaluate the effect of a glucose load on plasma insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels. Interaction between these hormones, plasma triacylglycerides and liver glycogen was also determined. After being fasted for 48 h, fish were intraperitoneally injected with...

Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) is a widely cultured fish; however, muscle development regulation is poorly known. Myogenesis can be activated by the myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs), MyoD, Myf5, myogenin and MRF4; and by endocrine signals from the growth hormone (GH) / insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) axis. We cultured gilthead sea bream my...

Después de más de quince años de trabajo, de viajes que han permitido establecer una red de colaboración entre profesores e investigadores de diferentes instituciones, ofrecemos al público el primer libro divulgativo sobre esta situación. El objetivo básico de esta obra, fruto de las aportaciones de expertos españoles y latinoamericanos, es proporc...

The endocrine control of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) converges with the stimulatory effect of amino acids (AA) on protein synthesis at the level of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Using as a model the primary culture of muscle satellite cells from gilthead sea bream, we investigated the effects of IGF-I and/or AA analyzing the...

From the early studies on pancreatic hormones, fish have been good models for the study of the structure and function of these peptides, and specifically, rainbow trout has been widely investigated. Interest in fish insulin and glucagon has grown substantially during the past years, from the study of peptide structure and plasma circulating levels,...

The aim of this study was to assess the role of soluble non-starch polysaccharide (guar gum) on white sea bream Diplodus sargus, glucose and lipid metabolism. A control diet was formulated to contain 40 % crude protein, 14 % crude lipids and 35 % pregelatinized maize starch, and three other diets were formulated similar to the control diet except f...

Juvenile gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) were fed with seven experimental diets containing different proportions of protein and lipid (P/L): 38/29, 41/26, 44/25, 47/23, 50/22, 54/21 and 57/20 per cent of dry matter, respectively. After 12 weeks, fish fed on diet 38/29 (P/L) showed the lowest food efficiency and final weight. A correlation betwee...

Primary cultures of gilthead sea bream myocytes were performed in order to examine the relative metabolic function of insulin compared with IGF-I and IGF-II (insulin-like growth factors, IGFs) at different stages in the cell culture. In these cells, the in vitro effects of insulin and IGFs on 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) and l-alanine uptake were studied...

Here we present the presence of adiponectin and adiponectin receptors [type 1 (adipoR1) and type 2 (adipoR2)] in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) tissues and cell cultures together with the response to different scenarios. In response to fasting, adiponectin expression was up-regulated in adipose tissue, while the expression of its receptors inc...