Anhui Key Laboratory of Resource Insect Biology and Innovative Utilization, School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 2024 Sep;117(1):e22153. doi: 10.1002/arch.22153.
Soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) serves as a receptor of nitric oxide (NO) and is the core metalloenzyme in the NO signal transduction pathway. sGC plays a key role in the NO-cGMP signal transduction pathway and participates in various physiological processes, including cell differentiation, neuron transmission, and internal environment homeostasis. sGC consists of two subunits, α and β, each subunit containing multiple isoforms. In this study, we cloned and analyzed the sGC-α1 gene in the silkworm Bombyx mori (BmsGC-α1). The BmsGC-α1 gene was expressed highest at the pupal stages. The highest BmsGC-α1 mRNA expression was observed in the head of fifth instar larvae and in fat body during the wandering stage of B. mori. Furthermore, we observed that feeding fifth instar larvae with thyroid hormone and nitroglycerin induced the expression of the BmsGC-α1 gene. Injection of BmsGC-α1 siRNA into silkworms at the prepupal stage resulted in a significant decrease in BmsGC-α1 expression levels at 48 and 72 h postinjection. After silencing BmsGC-α1, both the egg-laying amount and hatching rate of silkworm eggs were significantly reduced compared to the control group. These results suggest that BmsGC-α1 plays an important role in regulating the reproductive system of silkworms. This finding enhances our understanding of the functional diversity of sGC in insects.
可溶性鸟苷酸环化酶（sGC）作为一氧化氮（NO）的受体，是 NO 信号转导途径中的核心金属酶。sGC 在 NO-cGMP 信号转导途径中发挥关键作用，参与多种生理过程，包括细胞分化、神经元传递和内环境稳态。sGC 由两个亚基α和β组成，每个亚基包含多个同工型。在本研究中，我们克隆并分析了家蚕（Bombyx mori）的 sGC-α1 基因（BmsGC-α1）。BmsGC-α1 基因在蛹期表达量最高。第五龄幼虫头部和游荡期的脂肪体中 BmsGC-α1 mRNA 表达量最高。此外，我们观察到给五龄幼虫喂食甲状腺激素和硝化甘油可诱导 BmsGC-α1 基因的表达。在预蛹期向家蚕注射 BmsGC-α1 siRNA 可导致注射后 48 和 72 小时 BmsGC-α1 表达水平显著降低。沉默 BmsGC-α1 后，家蚕卵的产卵量和孵化率与对照组相比均显著降低。这些结果表明 BmsGC-α1 在调节家蚕生殖系统中发挥重要作用。这一发现增强了我们对昆虫中 sGC 功能多样性的理解。
