Molluscan insulin-related neuropeptide promotes neurite outgrowth in dissociated neuronal cell cultures.

The formation of neurites in isolated neurones of the snail Lymnaea stagnalis in primary culture was studied. The insulin-related neuropeptide (MIP: Molluscan insulin-related peptide) produced by the neuroendocrine light green cells (LGCs) of Lymnaea stimulated neurite formation, both in isolated unidentified central neurons and in the LGCs. The effect of MIP was dose dependent. It was significant from the second day of culture and amounted up to an 8-fold increase in neurite outgrowth after 3 days. The results add a functional aspect to the evolutionary relationship of MIP with mammalian insulin and insulin-related peptides and suggest that the LGCs, which stimulate growth, are also involved in development of the nervous system.