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Pleiotropic effects of the neuropeptides CCAP and myosuppressin in the beetle, Tenebrio molitor L.

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Abstract

Biological activities of crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP; PFCNAFTGCa) and leucomyosuppressin (Lem-MS; pQDVDHVFLRFa) were studied in heterologous bioassays in the larvae and adults of Tenebrio molitor. CCAP exerted a reversible and dose-dependent cardio-stimulatory effect on the semi-isolated heart of the experimental beetles at a concentration of >10−7 M and induced an effect similar to the endogenic cardio-stimulatory peptide, proctolin. Injections of CCAP (10−9–10−3 M) into 4-day-old adult reproductive females increased the concentration of soluble proteins in hemolymph in comparison to the saline injected controls. Electrophoretic analyses indicated significant increase in the level of two proteins 130 and 170 kDa, and a partial increase of the level of 67-kDa protein. The studies indicated that CCAP increased also free hemolymph sugar concentration in young larvae and adults of the mealworm beetle. The cardio-inhibitory peptide Lem-MS exerted the opposite effect: at concentration 10−7–10−6 M, it significantly decreased the heartbeat frequency. The induced changes were dose-dependent and reversible, but at higher concentrations (>10−5 M) the stimulatory effect disappeared. Injections of the Lem-MS into young larvae at concentrations 10−9–10−3 M, also increased the free hemolymph sugar level similarly to the CCAP. This work demonstrates the pleiotropic effects of CCAP and Lem-MS in Tenebrio molitor.

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Acknowledgments

Contract grant sponsor: Grant no. 3P04C 03724 and 2P04C 04928 from the State Committee for Scientific Research, Poznań, Poland. This study was supported by grant no. 3P04C03724 and 2P04C04928 from the State Committee for Scientific Research. The authors thank Dr. Natraj Krishnan, Department of Zoology, Oregon State University and Dr. Dalibor Kodrik, Institute of Entomology, Biological Center CAS for their critical remarks and help in correcting the language of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60-625, Poznan, Poland

    O. Wasielewski

  2. Department of Theory and Design of Computer Systems, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 16, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland

    M. Skonieczna

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  1. O. Wasielewski
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  2. M. Skonieczna
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Correspondence to O. Wasielewski.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier.

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Wasielewski, O., Skonieczna, M. Pleiotropic effects of the neuropeptides CCAP and myosuppressin in the beetle, Tenebrio molitor L.. J Comp Physiol B 178, 877–885 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0276-6

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