Walker Robert J, Papaioannou Sylvana, Holden-Dye Lindy
School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Invert Neurosci. 2009 Dec;9(3-4):111-53. doi: 10.1007/s10158-010-0097-7. Epub 2010 Feb 26.
Neuropeptides are a diverse class of signalling molecules that are widely employed as neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in animals, both invertebrate and vertebrate. However, despite their fundamental importance to animal physiology and behaviour, they are much less well understood than the small molecule neurotransmitters. The neuropeptides are classified into families according to similarities in their peptide sequence; and on this basis, the FMRFamide and RFamide-like peptides, first discovered in molluscs, are an example of a family that is conserved throughout the animal phyla. In this review, the literature on these neuropeptides has been consolidated with a particular emphasis on allowing a comparison between data sets in phyla as diverse as coelenterates and mammals. The intention is that this focus on the structure and functional aspects of FMRFamide and RFamide-like neuropeptides will inform understanding of conserved principles and distinct properties of signalling across the animal phyla.
神经肽是一类多样的信号分子，在无脊椎动物和脊椎动物中广泛用作神经递质和神经调质。然而，尽管它们对动物生理和行为至关重要，但与小分子神经递质相比，人们对它们的了解要少得多。神经肽根据其肽序列的相似性分为不同家族；在此基础上，最早在软体动物中发现的FMRF酰胺和RF酰胺样肽就是一个在整个动物门中都保守的家族的例子。在这篇综述中，关于这些神经肽的文献已被整合，特别强调了允许对腔肠动物和哺乳动物等不同门的数据进行比较。目的是，这种对FMRF酰胺和RF酰胺样神经肽的结构和功能方面的关注将有助于理解动物门间信号传导的保守原则和独特特性。
