QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JEB Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zitnan, D. Articles by Adams, M. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zitnan, D. Articles by Adams, M. E.

The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 1275-1289 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00261

Conservation of ecdysis-triggering hormone signalling in insects

D. itan^1,*, I. itanová^1,2, I. Spalovská^1,3, P. Taká¹, Y. Park⁴ and M. E. Adams⁴

¹ Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84206 Bratislava, Slovakia
² Institute of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Comenius University, Sasinkova 2, 81108 Bratislava, Slovakia
³ Department of Zoology, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina B2, 84215 Bratislava, Slovakia
⁴ Departments of Entomology and Neuroscience, 5429 Boyce Hall, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: dusan.zitnan{at}savba.sk)

Accepted 23 January 2003

Pre-ecdysis- and ecdysis-triggering hormones (PETH and ETH) from endocrine Inka cells initiate ecdysis in moths and Drosophila through direct actions on the central nervous system (CNS). Using immunohistochemistry, we found Inka cells in representatives of all major insect orders. In most insects, Inka cells are numerous, small and scattered throughout the tracheal system. Only some higher holometabolous insects exhibit 8-9 pairs of large Inka cells attached to tracheae in each prothoracic and abdominal segment. The number and morphology of Inka cells can be very variable even in the same individuals or related insects, but all produce peptide hormones that are completely released at each ecdysis. Injection of tracheal extracts prepared from representatives of several insect orders induces pre-ecdysis and ecdysis behaviours in pharate larvae of Bombyx, indicating functional similarity of these peptides. We isolated several PETH-immunoreactive peptides from tracheal extracts of the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea and the bug Pyrrhocoris apterus and identified the gene encoding two putative ETHs in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Inka cells also are stained with antisera to myomodulin, FMRFamide and other peptides sharing RXamide carboxyl termini. However, our enzyme immunoassays show that these antisera cross-react with PETH and ETH. Our results suggest that Inka cells of different insects produce only peptide hormones closely related to PETH and ETH, which are essential endocrine factors required for activation of the ecdysis behavioural sequence.

Key words: Inka cell, ecdysis-triggering hormone, peptide, behaviour, insect, PETH, ETH

Related articles in JEB:

INKA CELLS GET INSECTS OUT OF A TIGHT SPOT

Kathryn Phillips
JEB 2003 206: 1263. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Li, R. Predel, S. Neupert, F. Hauser, Y. Tanaka, G. Cazzamali, M. Williamson, Y. Arakane, P. Verleyen, L. Schoofs, et al. Genomics, transcriptomics, and peptidomics of neuropeptides and protein hormones in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum Genome Res., January 1, 2008; 18(1): 113 - 122. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y.-J. Kim, D. Zitnan, K.-H. Cho, D. A. Schooley, A. Mizoguchi, and M. E. Adams Central peptidergic ensembles associated with organization of an innate behavior PNAS, September 19, 2006; 103(38): 14211 - 14216. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Zilberstein, J. Ewer, and A. Ayali Neuromodulation of the locust frontal ganglion during the moult: a novel role for insect ecdysis peptides J. Exp. Biol., August 1, 2006; 209(15): 2911 - 2919. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. Gauthier and R. S. Hewes Transcriptional regulation of neuropeptide and peptide hormone expression by the Drosophila dimmed and cryptocephal genes J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2006; 209(10): 1803 - 1815. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.-P. Paluzzi and I. Orchard Distribution, activity and evidence for the release of an anti-diuretic peptide in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus J. Exp. Biol., March 1, 2006; 209(5): 907 - 915. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. C. Clark, M. L. del Campo, and J. Ewer Neuroendocrine Control of Larval Ecdysis Behavior in Drosophila: Complex Regulation by Partially Redundant Neuropeptides J. Neurosci., April 28, 2004; 24(17): 4283 - 4292. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y.-J. Kim, I. Spalovska-Valachova, K.-H. Cho, I. Zitnanova, Y. Park, M. E. Adams, and D. Zitnan Corazonin receptor signaling in ecdysis initiation PNAS, April 27, 2004; 101(17): 6704 - 6709. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Marques, T. E. Haerry, M. L. Crotty, M. Xue, B. Zhang, and M. B. O'Connor Retrograde Gbb signaling through the Bmp type 2 receptor Wishful Thinking regulates systemic FMRFa expression in Drosophila Development, November 15, 2003; 130(22): 5457 - 5470. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Phillips INKA CELLS GET INSECTS OUT OF A TIGHT SPOT J. Exp. Biol., April 15, 2003; 206(8): 1263 - 1263. [Full Text] [PDF]