Immunochemical and biochemical characterization of gastrin/cholecystokinin-like peptides in Palaemon serratus (Crustacea Decapoda): intermolt variations.

Gastrin/cholecystokinin (G/CCK)-like peptides cross-reacting with an antiserum specific for the carboxyamide terminal pentapeptide of gastrin and CCK have been detected in the eyestalks and in the stomach of the prawn Palaemon serratus using immunocytochemical methods. In the eyestalks, immunoreactivity is present in the neuroendocrine cells, the X organ-sinus gland tractus and the neurohemal organ itself. This suggests, for the first time, the existence of a neuroendocrine secretion of G/CCK-like peptides. Hemolymph G/CCK level is about 18 pM. In the stomach, G/CCK-like material has been observed in epithelial cells in the cuticle and in the lumen. Molecular sieving of crude extracts of the medulla terminalis from the eyestalks, the stomach, and the hemolymph samples on a Sephadex G-50 filtration column exhibited a molecular heterogeneity of the G/CCK immunoreactive material. Large components were observed principally in the medulla terminalis and in the hemolymph, and smaller forms in the stomach. A fraction common for the three tissues had an apparent molecular weight of 2500 Da. That fraction was characterized further by HPLC and shown to be more hydrophobic than human G17 I. By radioimmunoassay relatively low levels were detected in all the aforementioned organs. Although the concentration of the G/CCK-like components varies during the intermolt cycle, this was the case mainly in the hemolymph and in the stomach. These observations suggest a possible role of G/CCK-like peptides in molting processes.