Yu Na, Smagghe Guy
Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Peptides. 2014 Mar;53:232-7. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2013.12.011. Epub 2013 Dec 25.
Insects acquire essential nutrients from their food to support a diverse range of biological processes such as development and reproduction. An important role in the food intake regulation is attributed to the neurohormone sulfakinin signaling pathway. Sulfakinins (SKs) elicit satiety together with sulfakinin receptors (SKRs). In this project, the gene coding a second putative SKR, namely skr2, was cloned, characterized and functionally studied in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, with the purpose to understand its role in food intake regulation. The gene skr2 encoded a seven-transmembrane SKR2 protein with 420 amino acids and is evolutionarily close to the two SKRs in Drosophila. A distribution analysis by means of quantitative real-time PCR revealed a tissue- and stage-specific expression pattern with skr2 being dominantly expressed in head, and in the pupal and adult stages. Besides, its expression in gut was notable. With use of dsRNA of skr2, larval food intake was stimulated in an injection RNAi assay. Based on the data obtained, skr2 is considered as an indispensable component in the regulation of food intake in T. castaneum.
昆虫从食物中获取必需营养物质，以支持多种生物过程，如发育和繁殖。神经激素速激肽信号通路在食物摄入调节中起着重要作用。速激肽（SKs）与速激肽受体（SKRs）共同引发饱腹感。在本项目中，克隆、鉴定并对赤拟谷盗中编码另一种假定的SKR（即skr2）的基因进行了功能研究，目的是了解其在食物摄入调节中的作用。基因skr2编码一种含有420个氨基酸的七跨膜SKR2蛋白，在进化上与果蝇中的两种SKRs相近。通过定量实时PCR进行的分布分析揭示了一种组织和阶段特异性表达模式，skr2在头部以及蛹期和成虫期大量表达。此外，其在肠道中的表达也很显著。在注射RNA干扰试验中，使用skr2的dsRNA刺激了幼虫的食物摄入量。根据获得的数据，skr2被认为是赤拟谷盗食物摄入调节中不可或缺的组成部分。
