The EGPs: the eclosion hormone and cyclic GMP-regulated phosphoproteins. II. Regulation of appearance by the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone in Manduca sexta.

Two proteins (the EGPs) in the CNS of the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta are phosphorylated by the action of the neuropeptide eclosion hormone (EH), which triggers ecdysis behavior (Morton and Truman, 1986, 1988). The onset of sensitivity to EH requires prior exposure to the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE). A series of steroid removal and replacement experiments indicates that the EGPs are also regulated by 20-HE with a time course that is similar to that seen for the 20-HE regulation of behavioral sensitivity to EH. This suggests that the steroid regulation of EH sensitivity is due to the regulation of the EGPs. The appearance of the EGPs requires not only the presence of 20-HE, but also its subsequent removal. The appearance of the EGPs can be blocked in vivo and in vitro by maintaining artificially elevated levels of 20-HE, but only up to a particular time in development. The ending of this steroid-sensitive period occurs 4 hr before the normal appearance of the EGPs, consistent with the hypothesis that the EGPs are synthesized de novo in response to the removal of 20-HE.