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Cloning and identification of an oxytocin/vasopressin-like receptor and its ligand from insects.

ABSTRACT: More than 20 years ago, an oxytocin/vasopressin-like peptide, CLITNCPRGamide, was isolated from the locust, Locusta migratoria [Proux JP, et al. (1987) Identification of an arginine vasopressin-like diuretic hormone from Locusta migratoria. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 149:180-186]. However, no similar peptide could be identified in other insects, nor could its prohormone be cloned, or its physiological actions be established. Here, we report that the recently sequenced genome from the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum contains a gene coding for an oxytocin/vasopressin-like peptide, identical to the locust peptide, which we named inotocin (for insect oxytocin/vasopressin-like peptide) and a gene coding for an inotocin G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). We cloned the Tribolium inotocin preprohormone and the inotocin GPCR and expressed the GPCR in CHO cells. This GPCR is strongly activated by low concentrations of inotocin (EC(50), 5 x 10(-9) M), demonstrating that it is the inotocin receptor. Quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR) showed that in adult Tribolium, the receptor is mainly expressed in the head and much less in the hindgut and Malpighian tubules, suggesting that the inotocin/receptor couple does not play a role in water homeostasis. Surprisingly, qPCR also showed that the receptor is 30x more expressed in the first larval stages than in adult animals. The inotocin/receptor couple can also be found in the recently sequenced genome from the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis but not in any other holometabolous insect with a completely sequenced genome (12 Drosophila species, the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, the silk worm Bombyx mori, and the honey bee Apis mellifera), suggesting that this neuropeptide system is confined to basal holometabolous insects. Furthermore, we identified an oxytocin/vasopressin-like peptide and receptor in the recently sequenced genome from the water flea Daphnia pulex (Crustacea). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the molecular cloning of an oxytocin/vasopressin-like receptor and its ligand from arthropods.

SUBMITTER: Stafflinger E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2265169 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cloning and identification of an oxytocin/vasopressin-like receptor and its ligand from insects.

Stafflinger Elisabeth E Hansen Karina K KK Hauser Frank F Schneider Martina M Cazzamali Giuseppe G Williamson Michael M Grimmelikhuijzen Cornelis J P CJ

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20080303 9

More than 20 years ago, an oxytocin/vasopressin-like peptide, CLITNCPRGamide, was isolated from the locust, Locusta migratoria [Proux JP, et al. (1987) Identification of an arginine vasopressin-like diuretic hormone from Locusta migratoria. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 149:180-186]. However, no similar peptide could be identified in other insects, nor could its prohormone be cloned, or its physiological actions be established. Here, we report that the recently sequenced genome from the red flour b ...[more]

PMID: 18316733

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Project description:In the last several decades, sophisticated experimental techniques have been used to determine the neurobiology of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in rodents. Using a suite of methodologies, including electrophysiology, site-specific selective pharmacology, receptor autoradiography, in vivo microdialysis, and genetic and optogenetic manipulations, we have gained unprecedented knowledge about how these neuropeptides engage neural circuits to regulate behaviour, particularly social behaviour. Based on this foundation of information from rodent studies, we have started generating new hypotheses and frameworks about how the oxytocin and vasopressin systems could be acting in humans to influence social cognition. However, despite the recent inundation of publications using intranasal oxytocin in humans, we still know very little about the neurophysiology of the oxytocin system in primates more broadly. Furthermore, the design and analysis of these human studies have remained largely uninformed of the potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying their findings. Although the methods available for studying the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in humans are incredibly limited as a result of practical and ethical considerations, there is great potential to fill the gaps in our knowledge by developing better nonhuman primate models of social functioning. Behavioural pharmacology and receptor autoradiography have been used to study the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in nonhuman primates, and there is now great potential to broaden our understanding of the neurobiology of these systems. In this review, we discuss comparative findings in receptor distributions in rodents and primates, with perspectives on the functionality of conserved regions of expression in these distinct mammalian clades. We also identify specific ways that established technologies can be used to answer basic research questions in primates. Finally, we highlight areas of future research in nonhuman primates that are experimentally poised to yield critical insights into the anatomy, physiology and behavioural effects of the oxytocin system, given its remarkable translational potential.

Dataset Information

Cloning and identification of an oxytocin/vasopressin-like receptor and its ligand from insects.

Publications

Cloning and identification of an oxytocin/vasopressin-like receptor and its ligand from insects.

Similar Datasets

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