CCK-8 inhibits feeding-specific neurons in Navanax, an opisthobranch mollusc.

Cholecystokinin has been implicated as a satiety factor in mammals because it inhibits feeding through peripheral and central mechanisms. The cellular mechanisms of the central actions of CCK have been difficult to study because of the complex circuitry of the mammalian brain. Navanax is an opisthobranch mollusc with a defined neural network for feeding behavior in which the central effects of CCK can be studied at the cellular level. Here we report the localization of CCK-immunoreactivity in neuronal cell bodies and varicose fibers in the buccal ganglion of Navanax and that CCK-8 inhibits buccal ganglion neurons selectively and at tenth picomolar concentrations: expansion motoneurons responsible for prey capture are strongly inhibited by CCK-8; circumferential motoneurons responsible for swallowing are weakly inhibited by CCK-8. A large cell, cell X, is described which is sensitive to very low doses of CCK-8. These data imply the existence of a CCK-like peptide with transmitter-like actions in the buccal ganglion of Navanax.