Distribution and function of tetrodotoxin-binding proteins in the pufferfish Takifugu rubripes -elucidation from a viewpoint of sexual maturation

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Various tetrodotoxin (TTX) administration experiments using non-toxic cultured pufferfish, and investigations on internal TTX distribution of several wild pufferfish species and the goby Yongeichthys criniger demonstrated that TTX kinetics inside the body changes depending on the skin/liver development due to growth, and ovary development/maturation due to sexual maturation in these TTX-bearing fish. Moreover, searches for homologous genes of the TTX-binding protein (PSTBP) on several pufferfish species indicated that Takifugu rubripes possesses 3 candidate genes, 2 of which actually exist as proteins in the blood plasma, and that the other 3 toxic species also have 2-domain type candidate genes, and the difference in their sugar chain binding sites may be related to the toxin accumulation ability.