Abstract
The cellular system responsible for the transduction of the pigment-concentrating hormone (PCH) signal was investigated in erythrophores of the freshwater shrimp, Macrobrachium potiuna. Dose-response curves to the hormone were determined in the absence and in the presence of several drugs that affect sequential steps of the Ca2+-dependent signalling pathway. Additionally, the ability of forskolin to induce pigment dispersion was evaluated. Neomycin sulphate (10−4 and 10−3 mol · l−1), trifluoperazine (10−5 and 10−4 mol · l−1), 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (10−7 and 10−5 mol · l−1) and okadaic acid (10−7 mol · l−1) significantly (P<0.05) decreased the responses to PCH. However, okadaic acid at low concentration (10−9 mol · l−1) and cyclosporin A (10−6 and 10−5 mol · l−1) did not significantly (P>0.05) affect PCH activity. Forskolin (10−4 mol · l−1) was able to half-maximally reverse the hormone-induced aggregation. Our results suggest that the pigment-concentrating hormone induces pigment aggregation through a Ca2+-dependent pathway with a posteriori phosphatase activation, probably the serine/threonine phosphatase 1.
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Accepted: 30 June 1997
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Nery, L., da Silva, M., Josefsson, L. et al. Cellular signalling of PCH-induced pigment aggregation in the crustacean Macrobrachium potiuna erythrophores. J Comp Physiol B 167, 570–575 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003600050111
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003600050111