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Immunocytochemical demonstration of vertebrate neuropeptides in the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris (Annelida, Oligochaeta)

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Summary

The localisation and distribution of 10 vertebrate-derived neuropeptides in the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris, have been determined by an indirect immunofluorescence technique. The peptides are pancreatic polypeptide (PP), peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY), neuropeptide Y (NPY), glucagon (C-terminal), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), peptide histidine isoleucine (PHI), gastrinreleasing peptide (GRP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), neurotensin (NT), and met-enkephalin. For 6 of the peptides — PYY, NPY, PHI, glucagon, GRP and CGRP — this is the first demonstration of their presence in any annelid, and NT has not previously been described in an oligochaete. Cell bodies and nerve fibres immunoreactive to the 10 peptides occur throughout the CNS. In the PNS, epidermal sensory cells displayed immunoreactivities to PP and PYY, and PP-, PYY-, NPY-, PHI- and GRP-like immunoreactivities occurred in nerve fibres supplying the main body muscles. Nerve fibres immunoreactive to PP and PYY are also associated with the innervation of the gut (pharynx, oesophageal glands, and mid and posterior regions of the intestine). No endocrine cells immunoreactive for any of the antisera tested could be identified in the gut epithelium, suggesting that dual location of peptides in the brain and gut epithelium is a phenomenon that occurred at a later stage in evolution. No immunoreactive elements were detected in any of the organs and ducts of the reproductive and excretory systems.

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  1. W. J. Curry

    Present address: Department of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Science, Grosvenor Road, BT12 6BJ, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biology, The Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

    W. J. Curry,  I. Fairweather & D. W. Halton

  2. Departments of Medicine, The Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

    C. F. Johnston & K. D. Buchanan

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  1. W. J. Curry
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  2. I. Fairweather
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  3. C. F. Johnston
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  4. D. W. Halton
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  5. K. D. Buchanan
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Curry, W.J., Fairweather, I., Johnston, C.F. et al. Immunocytochemical demonstration of vertebrate neuropeptides in the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris (Annelida, Oligochaeta). Cell Tissue Res. 257, 577–586 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221468

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