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First published online August 18, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 3303-3319 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01787
Identification and characterization of a tachykinin-containing neuroendocrine organ in the commissural ganglion of the crab Cancer productus
1 Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA
98195-1800, USA
2 Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, 620 University Road,
Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA
3 Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1101
University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706-1369, USA
4 Department of Physics, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa
Clara, CA 95053-0315, USA
5 School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 777 Highland
Avenue, Madison, WI 53705-2222 USA
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: crabman{at}u.washington.edu)
Accepted 7 July 2005
A club-shaped, tachykinin-immunopositive structure first described nearly two decades ago in the commissural ganglion (CoG) of three species of decapod crustaceans has remained enigmatic, as its function is unknown. Here, we use a combination of anatomical, mass spectrometric and electrophysiological techniques to address this issue in the crab Cancer productus. Immunohistochemistry using an antibody to the vertebrate tachykinin substance P shows that a homologous site exists in each CoG of this crab. Confocal microscopy reveals that its structure and organization are similar to those of known neuroendocrine organs. Based on its location in the anterior medial quadrant of the CoG, we have named this structure the anterior commissural organ (ACO). Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry shows that the ACO contains the peptide APSGFLGMRamide, commonly known as Cancer borealis tachykinin-related peptide Ia (CabTRP Ia). Using the same technique, we show that CabTRP Ia is also released into the hemolymph. As no tachykinin-like labeling is seen in any of the other known neuroendocrine sites of this species (i.e. the sinus gland, the pericardial organ and the anterior cardiac plexus), the ACO is a prime candidate to be the source of CabTRP Ia present in the circulatory system. Our electrophysiological studies indicate that one target of hemolymph-borne CabTRP Ia is the foregut musculature. Here, no direct CabTRP Ia innervation is present, yet several gastric mill and pyloric muscles are nonetheless modulated by hormonally relevant concentrations of the peptide. Collectively, our findings show that the C. productus ACO is a neuroendocrine organ providing hormonal CabTRP Ia modulation to the foregut musculature. Homologous structures in other decapods are hypothesized to function similarly.
Key words: stomatogastric nervous system, hormone, APSGFLGMRamide, Cancer borealis tachykinin-related peptide Ia, CabTRP Ia, anterior commissural organ, ACO, laser-scanning confocal microscopy, mass spectrometry, MALDI-FTMS
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