Geraerts W P, Smit A B, Li K W, Hordijk P L
Faculty of Biology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Experientia. 1992 May 15;48(5):464-73. doi: 10.1007/BF01928165.
We review recent experiments showing that the cerebral neuroendocrine Light Green Cells (LGCs) of the freshwater snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, express a family of distinct though related molluscan insulin-related peptide (MIP) genes. The LGCs are involved in the regulation of a wide range of interrelated life processes associated with growth, (energy) metabolism and reproduction. We consider the mechanism of generation of diversity among MIPs, and present evidence that conditions with distinct effects on growth, metabolism and reproduction also can induce distinct patterns of expression of the MIP and schistosomin genes. The stimulus-dependent expression of multiple neuropeptide genes enormously increases the adaptive potential of a peptidergic neuron. We suggest that this contributes significantly to the information-handling capacity of the brain.
我们回顾了近期的实验，这些实验表明，淡水螺类椎实螺（Lymnaea stagnalis）的脑神经内分泌淡绿细胞（LGCs）表达了一族虽不同但相关的软体动物胰岛素相关肽（MIP）基因。LGCs参与调控与生长、（能量）代谢和繁殖相关的一系列广泛的相互关联的生命过程。我们探讨了MIPs多样性产生的机制，并提供证据表明，对生长、代谢和繁殖有不同影响的条件也能诱导MIP和血吸虫素基因产生不同的表达模式。多种神经肽基因的刺激依赖性表达极大地增加了肽能神经元的适应潜力。我们认为，这对大脑的信息处理能力有显著贡献。
