Yew Joanne Y, Davis Ralph, Dikler Sergei, Nanda Jennifer, Reinders Barbara, Stretton Antony O
Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
J Comp Neurol. 2007 Jun 10;502(5):872-82. doi: 10.1002/cne.21357.
Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight and tandem time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF and MALDI-TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry were used to sequence and localize three novel, related neuropeptides in the nervous system of the nematode Ascaris suum, AMRNALVRFamide (AF21), NGAPQPFVRFamide (AF22), and SGMRNALVRFamide (AF23). The amino acid sequences were used to clone a novel neuropeptide gene (afp-6) that encodes a precursor bearing a single copy of each of the peptides. In situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry revealed that both the transcript and the peptides are expressed in a single cell in the ventral ganglion. Pharmacological studies of intact nematodes injected with these peptides, as well as physiological studies of responses to them in muscle tissue, motor neurons, and the pharynx, reveal that these peptides have potent bioactivity in the locomotory and feeding systems. Further exploration of their effects may contribute to our understanding of neuropeptide modulation of behavior and also to the development of compounds with anthelmintic relevance.
基质辅助激光解吸/电离飞行时间和串联飞行时间（MALDI-TOF和MALDI-TOF/TOF）质谱法被用于对线虫猪蛔虫神经系统中的三种新的相关神经肽AMRNALVRFamide（AF21）、NGAPQPFVRFamide（AF22）和SGMRNALVRFamide（AF23）进行测序和定位。氨基酸序列被用于克隆一个新的神经肽基因（afp-6），该基因编码一个前体，其中每个肽段都有一个拷贝。原位杂交和免疫细胞化学显示，转录本和肽段都在腹神经节的单个细胞中表达。对注射了这些肽段的完整线虫进行的药理学研究，以及对肌肉组织、运动神经元和咽部对它们的反应进行的生理学研究表明，这些肽段在运动和摄食系统中具有强大的生物活性。对它们作用的进一步探索可能有助于我们理解神经肽对行为的调节，也有助于开发具有驱虫相关性的化合物。
