昆虫蜕皮激素生物合成及其神经肽调控

蜕皮激素是对节肢动物体内类固醇激素的统称,昆虫的蜕皮激素主要由内分泌器官前胸腺合成,具有诱发幼虫周期性蜕皮以及最终变态蜕皮的生理功能。近期的研究工作阐明了前胸腺中原先被称为"黑箱"的一系列酶促反应步骤,此外促前胸腺激素受体的成功鉴定使人们对PTTH信号转导通路调控前胸腺蜕皮激素合成有了更深入的理解。     

蜕皮激素及其对蟹虾养殖业的影响

一、蜕皮激素概况昆虫和甲壳动物蜕皮激素的研究是本世纪四十年代开始的。当时日本学者福田等人曾对家蚕进行结扎、断头及器官移植等试验,发现蚕的前胸腺的分泌活动与蜕皮及变态有着内在的密切联系。1954-1956年,德国卡尔森等从蚕蛹中分离到微量天然蜕皮激素(50mg/1000kg),仅使用0.0075μg就可以使结扎的丽蝇腹部化蛹。1965年,由美国霍夫迈斯特等鉴定了α-蜕皮激素的化学结构,证明它是一种广泛存在于昆虫及甲壳类动物体内的甾族化合物(即类固醇)。后     

抑前胸腺肽在家蚕体内的活性作用

家蚕Bombyx mori抑前胸腺肽是昆虫脑神经肽的一种,体外实验表明它能抑制处于活动时期的家蚕前胸腺合成蜕皮激素,因此抑前胸腺肽可能对昆虫的变态起着重要的作用。将抑前胸腺肽以不同的浓度分单一注射和加强注射导入家蚕体内,不同的时间间隔取样,利用蜕皮激素放射免疫分析方法,观察到了抑前胸腺肽在家蚕体内的活性作用以及引起家蚕体内血淋巴中蜕皮激素浓度的动态变化,首次证明了抑前胸腺肽在体内对家蚕前胸腺合成蜕皮激素有强烈的抑制作用。     

抑前胸腺肽在家蚕体内的活性作用

家蚕Bombyx mori抑前胸腺肽是昆虫脑神经肽的一种,体外实验表明它能抑制处于活动时期的家蚕前胸腺合成蜕皮激素,因此抑前胸腺肽可能对昆虫的变态起着重要的作用。将抑前胸腺肽以不同的浓度分单一注射和加强注射导入家蚕体内,不同的时间间隔取样,利用蜕皮激素放射免疫分析方法,观察到了抑前胸腺肽在家蚕体内的活性作用以及引起家蚕体内血淋巴中蜕皮激素浓度的动态变化,首次证明了抑前胸腺肽在体内对家蚕前胸腺合成蜕皮激素有强烈的抑制作用。     

昆虫蛹滞育的神经内分泌调控

从神经内分泌的角度,分别介绍了脑、前胸腺和咽侧体在昆虫蛹滞育中所起的作用。脑主要是通过对促前胸腺激素的合成和释放的控制来参与滞育调节的;而前胸腺的活性过低,分泌的蜕皮激素远远低于启动成虫发育所需要的量,是导致蛹滞育的最根本原因;咽侧体在某些虫种中对蛹滞育可能起到间接的调控作用。     

入侵害虫蔗扁蛾成虫及卵内蜕皮激素的定性定量分析

利用液相色谱和放射免疫分析法首次对入侵害虫蔗扁蛾（Opogona sacchari Bojer）成虫及卵内的蜕皮激素进行了定性和定量分析,以期明确蔗扁蛾成虫及卵内蜕皮激素的主要组分及动态变化规律．羽化后第4天,雄成虫蜕皮激素含量仅为0．080ng／只,而雌成虫蜕皮激素含量高达5．978ng／只,差异达到极显著水平．鉴于雌成虫的蜕皮激素主要是由卵巢合成分泌,因此我们测定了卵巢发育过程中整个蜕皮激素的变化动态,发现前期卵巢蜕皮激素含量较低,后期则相对较高,其峰值出现在发育到第3天的卵巢,蜕皮激素含量为10．480ng／卵巢．卵内蜕皮激素含量测定表明,前3天的卵内蜕皮激素含量相对稳定,维持在0．010ng/卵左右,而到第4天时,卵内蜕皮激素含量则下降到0．006ng／卵．蜕皮激素定性分析发现,卵巢和卵内均含有3种主要的蜕皮激素组分：20-羟基蜕皮酮、26-羟基蜕皮酮和一个尚未鉴定的组分．     

β-蜕皮激素对小鼠胸腺退化的保护作用

目的通过腹腔注射地塞米松(Dex)构造小鼠胸腺退化模型,探究β-蜕皮激素(Ecd)对小鼠胸腺退化的保护作用。方法小鼠随机分为空白对照组、胸腺退化模型组以及3个给药组(Ecd 50 mg/kg、75 mg/kg和100 mg/kg)。腹腔注射给药7 d,于采集胸腺前15 h给予模型组和给药组腹腔注射Dex造模。取小鼠胸腺组织,计算胸腺指数,HE染色切片观察胸腺组织变化,免疫组织化学检测胸腺组织中相关凋亡基因Bcl-2和Bax蛋白的表达。结论 Ecd可提高胸腺指数,保护胸腺组织结构,有效提高Bcl-2的表达并降低Bax的表达,从而提高Bcl-2/Bax比率,抑制胸腺细胞凋亡,提高胸腺细胞存活率。     

蜕皮激素及其对蟹虾养殖的影响

蜕皮激素及其对蟹虾养殖的影响房凯（四川绵阳师专生物系）（一）蜕应激素概况昆虫和甲壳动物蜕皮激素的研究是本世纪４０年代开始的。当时日本学者福田等人曾对家蚕进行结扎、断头及器官移植等试验,发现蚕的前胸腺的分泌活动与蜕皮及变态有着内在的密切联系。１９５４～...     

Insect ecdysteroids biosynthesis and its regulation by neuropeptides

蜕皮激素是对节肢动物体内类固醇激素的统称,昆虫的蜕皮激素主要由内分泌器官前胸腺合成,具有诱发幼虫周期性蜕皮以及最终变态蜕皮的生理功能.近期的研究工作阐明了前胸腺中原先被称为“黑箱”的一系列酶促反应步骤,此外促前胸腺激素受体的成功鉴定使人们对PTTH信号转导通路调控前胸腺蜕皮激素合成有了更深入的理解.     

RNA干扰对家蚕丝腺蜕皮激素相关基因表达的影响

昆虫变态发育过程中,蜕皮激素通过一系列的激素相关转录因子进行信号的转导和放大,从而完成对生长变态发育的调控,其中蜕皮激素受体(EcR)及转录因子BR-C和E74A可能作为早期因子发挥作用.为了研究这3个早期转录因子在鳞翅目昆虫中的功能,本研究采用体外合成dsRNA的方法,将合成的dsRNA分别注射熟蚕期的家蚕Bomby...     

蜕皮激素和IIS-TORC1信号的分子互作

蜕皮激素信号主导调控昆虫的蜕皮和变态,决定昆虫的发育时间;IIS-TORC1信号整合生长因子、激素、营养和能量信号,决定昆虫的生长速率。蜕皮激素和IIS-TORC1信号之间发生3种分子互作:(1)IIS-TORC1信号促进前胸腺和卵巢合成蜕皮激素前体。(2)在蜕皮和变态期间,蜕皮激素抑制脂肪体细胞内IIS-TORC1信号、Myc的转录、细胞生长及其内分泌功能,导致脑神经分泌细胞分泌胰岛素样肽的功能减弱,从而降低昆虫全身性的IIS-TORC1信号。(3)在幼虫摄食期间,胰岛素信号抑制FOXO的转录活性,降低了蜕皮激素受体EcR的转录共激活因子DOR编码基因的转录水平,从而阻碍了蜕皮激素信号传导。蜕皮激素信号和IIS-TORC1信号协同调控发育时间和生长速率共同决定昆虫的个体大小。     

Temperature-sensitive mechanism regulating diapause in Heliothis zea

Pupal diapause in Heliothis zea is regulated by a temperature-sensitive mechanism which prevents ecdysone production despite the release of prothoracicotropic hormone. To determine how this mechanism functioned, donor prothoracic glands were implanted into prothoracic gland-ablated hosts to test their ability to produce ecdysone in a diapause-sustaining temperature of 19°C. Results of these experiments ruled out the possibility that ecdysis production was regulated by the nervous system or by a mechanism intrinsic to the prothoracic glands, and suggested that a humoral factor was required for diapause termination.Haemolymph injection experiments supported this humoral factor hypothesis, i.e. haemolymph from non-diapausing donor pupae terminated diapause in hosts maintained at 19°C, whereas haemolymph from diapausing donor pupae had no such effect. These findings indicate that the temperature-sensitive mechanism regulating H. zea diapause functions by controlling the availability of a humoral factor necessary for ecdysone production by the prothoracic glands.     

Nitric Oxide Synthase Regulates Growth Coordination During Drosophila melanogaster Imaginal Disc Regeneration

Mechanisms that coordinate growth during development are essential for producing animals with proper organ proportion. Here we describe a pathway through which tissues communicate to coordinate growth. During Drosophila melanogaster larval development, damage to imaginal discs activates a regeneration checkpoint through expression of Dilp8. This both produces a delay in developmental timing and slows the growth of undamaged tissues, coordinating regeneration of the damaged tissue with developmental progression and overall growth. Here we demonstrate that Dilp8-dependent growth coordination between regenerating and undamaged tissues, but not developmental delay, requires the activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the prothoracic gland. NOS limits the growth of undamaged tissues by reducing ecdysone biosynthesis, a requirement for imaginal disc growth during both the regenerative checkpoint and normal development. Therefore, NOS activity in the prothoracic gland coordinates tissue growth through regulation of endocrine signals.     

On the intracellular localization of the ecdysone 20-monooxygenase in Musca domestica. L

The cytochrome P-450-dependent 20-monooxygenation of ecdysone is catalyzed both by mitochondria and microsomes isolated from Musca domestica (L.) larvae; however, about 50% of the activity is associated with mitochondria, and 37% is associated with microsomes. Pretreatment of larvae with ecdysone results in an increase in Vmax and a decrease in Km values in mitochondria but not in microsomes. Phenobarbital, a known cytochrome P-450 inducer, increases the cytochrome P-450 levels in microsomes without affecting the 20-monooxygenase activity, but both the cytochrome P-450 levels and monooxygenase activity are depressed in mitochondria from phenobarbital-pretreated larvae. The ecdysone 20-monooxygenase activity is equally distributed between mitochondria and microsomes in adult insects. Pretreatment of the insects with ecdysone does not significantly modify the 20-monooxygenase activity of either mitochondrial or microsomal fractions, but the cytochrome P-450 levels are reduced in mitochondria. Phenobarbital also depresses the mitochondrial cytochrome P-450 levels while markedly increasing the microsomal cytochrome P-450 levels. However, no significant changes in ecdysone 20-monooxygenase activity are produced by phenobarbital pretreatment. The effects of ecdysone on adult cytochrome P-450 are mostly evidenced in mitochondria isolated from females, whereas in males the changes are not statistically significant. It is concluded that the mitochondrial ecdysone 20-monooxygenase is under regulatory control by ecdysone in the larval stage, which suggests that only the mitochondrial activity has a physiological role during insect development in M. domestica. In adults, both the mitochondrial and microsomal ecdysone 20-monooxygenase activities are not responsive to ecdysone, which, coupled to their high Km values, indicates that the reaction may not be of physiological importance in adult insects and that the mitochondrial cytochrome P-450 species being depressed by ecdysone in females are possibly not involved in ecdysone metabolism.     

Conversion of 3-dehydroecdysone by a ketoreductase in post-diapause, pre-hatch eggs of the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar

The prothoracic glands (PGs) of Lymantria dispar (day-5 female, last-stage larvae) produce both ecdysone and an ecdysteroid which has the same retention time on reverse-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) as a known standard of 3-dehydroecdysone. The latter ecdysteroid can be converted by a heat-labile factor in extracts of post-diapause, pre-hatch L. dispar eggs to an ecdysteroid which has the same retention time on RPLC as ecdysone. Purified 3-dehydroecdysone, similarly treated with egg extract, also gives the same retention time on RPLC as ecdysone. Taken together, these data suggest that, like Manduca sexta, a major product of the PGs in L. dispar is 3-dehydroecdysone. Furthermore, these data suggest that L. dispar eggs, which contain mature embryos, possess ecdysteroid ketoreductase activity capable of converting 3-dehydroecdysone to ecdysone. This is the first report of ecdysteroid ketoreductase activity in embryonated eggs.     

Prothoracic glands in the regulation of ecdysone titres and metabolic fate of injected labelled ecdysone in Locusta migratoria

In the absence of the prothoracic glands, fifth instar larvae of Locusta migratoria contain no demonstrable quantities of ecdysone and ecdysterone (assayed together in the Calliphora bioassay), whereas normal larvae show a high peak of ecdysone activity. The metabolic fate of injected radiolabelled ecdysone is found to be very similar in prothoracectomized larvae to that of normal larvae (hydroxylation rate, dehydrogenation of ecdysone and ecdysterone, inactivation rate). However, in the absence of the prothoracic glands, the larvae excrete radiolabelled ecdysone in their faecal material at a rate which is considerably higher than that of normal insects of the same age. These results are discussed in view of the regulation of the ecdysone titres by the prothoracic glands in L. migratoria.     

Regulation of insect prothoracic glands: Existence of a haemolymph stimulatory factor in Manduca sexta

The primary regulator of ecdysone biosynthesis by insect prothoracic glands is the prothoracicotropic hormone. However, it now appears that other factors, secondary regulators, may modulate prothoracic gland activity. One such factor has been isolated from the haemolymph of Manduca larvae. This haemolymph factor stimulates in vitro ecdysone synthesis by larval and pupal prothoracic glands by approx. 5-fold. It has an apparent mol. wt of ～330 kD, is protease-sensitive and is heat labile, the latter clearly distinguishing it from the prothoracicotropic hormone. Further, its steroidogenic effects and those of prothoracicotropic hormone are additive. Treatment of larval or pupal prothoracic glands with both moieties simultaneously effects an approx. 10-fold increase in ecdysone synthesis. The haemolymph titre of the stimulatory factor is low at commitment of the last-larval instar, then increases by approx. 3-fold later in the instar during pharate-pupal development. This increase in the titre is sufficient to effect a significant increase in prothoracic gland activity that could be physiologically important. Thus, it appears that the fluctuating level of this haemolymph stimulatory factor may act in conjunction with prothoracicotropic hormone to regulate the haemolymph ecdysteroid titre by modulating the ecdysone biosynthetic activity of the prothoracic glands.     

Neurohormonal control of ecdysone production: Comparison of insects and crustaceans

Summary

Ecdysteroid synthesis is regulated in insects by prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) and in crustaceans by molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH). These neurohormones exert opposite effects on their respective target tissues, PTTH stimulating the prothoracic glands and MIH inhibiting the Y-organs. The present work reviews recent progress in the neurohormonal regulation of prothoracic gland and Y-organ function. The steroid products of these glands are briefly discussed, as is current information on the structures of PTTH and MIH. Focus is placed on the mechanism of action of these hormones at the cellular level, as well as developmental changes in cellular sensitivity to PTTH. Though exerting different effects on ecdysteroid secretion, both PTTH and MIH increase cyclic nucleotide second messengers, are influenced by alterations in cellular calcium, and are likely to activate protein kinases. The contrasting steroidogenic effects of PTTH and MIH probably arise from differences in the cellular kinase substrates. In insects, such substrates enhance ecdysteroid secretion, possibly by increasing the translation of glandular proteins. In crustaceans, MIH-stimulated changes lead to the inhibition of both protein synthesis and steroidogenesis.     

Regulation of ecdysone hydroxylation in Locusta migratoria: Rôle of the moulting hormone level

After repetitive injections of moderate doses of ecdysone, ecdysterone or phenobarbital to young Vth (last) instar larvae of Locusta migratoria, the conversion rate of ecdysone to ecdysterone in vivo is significantly higher than in control insects. Similarly, 5 hr after injection of a low dose of ecdysone or ecdysterone, a strong ‘induction’ of ecdysone 20-monooxygenase activity occurs. This ‘inductive’ effect is blocked by cycloheximide.Simultaneous injections of ecdysone and ecdysterone show that hydroxylation of ecdysone is inhibited by the product of the reaction, ecdysterone. Removal of the prothoracic glands and X-ray treatment of the hemocytopoietic tissue do not affect ecdysone hydroxylation. The mechanism of induction and inhibition of ecdysone 20-monooxygenase shown in this study is probably responsible for the important variations of this key enzyme which have been reported from several insect species.     

Immuno-electron-microscopic evidence of ecdysteroids in Y-organ of Orconectes limosus (Crustacea,Decapoda)

Ecdysone was demonstrated by ultrastructural immunocytochemistry to be present in the mitochondria of the Y-organs of the crayfish Orconectes limosus. This is in remarkable contrast to the prothoracic glands of insects and suggests substantial differences in the biosynthesis of the same hormone, ecdysone, in crustaceans and insects.