van Golen F A, Li K W, Chen S, Jiménez C R, Geraerts W P
Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Research Institute Neurosciences Vrije Universiteit, Faculty of Biology, The Netherlands.
J Neurochem. 1996 Jan;66(1):321-9. doi: 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1996.66010321.x.
Male copulatory behavior in the snail Lymnaea stagnalis is controlled by several types of peptidergic neurons, including a cluster of neurons in the ventral lobe of the right cerebral ganglion that show immunoreactivity to myomodulin-A of Aplysia and innervate the penis complex. We identified structurally myomodulin-A and three related peptides from Lymnaea and showed that they are present in a characteristic ratio in both the penis nerve and penis complex, suggesting that they are processed from a single precursor and transported from the ventral lobe to the penis complex. All four peptides decreased the relaxation time of electrically evoked contractions of the penis retractor muscle. However, their effects on the amplitude of contraction were different, ranging from no effect to an increase or a decrease in the amplitude. A mixture of the peptides in a ratio as determined by direct mass spectrometry of the penis nerve decreased the contraction time, the relaxation time, and the amplitude. These effects resemble those of one particular peptide in the mixture. The direct mass spectrometry determinations of the peptide profile in the penis nerve suggest that many more, as yet unidentified, neuropeptides are involved in modulation of muscle activities of the penis complex.
椎实螺的雄性交配行为受几种肽能神经元控制，其中包括右脑神经节腹叶中的一组神经元，这些神经元对海兔的肌动蛋白调节素A具有免疫反应，并支配阴茎复合体。我们从椎实螺中鉴定出了结构上的肌动蛋白调节素A和三种相关肽，并表明它们在阴茎神经和阴茎复合体中以特定比例存在，这表明它们是由单一前体加工而来，并从腹叶运输到阴茎复合体。所有这四种肽都缩短了电诱发的阴茎回缩肌收缩的松弛时间。然而，它们对收缩幅度的影响各不相同，从无影响到幅度增加或减小。通过对阴茎神经进行直接质谱分析确定的肽比例混合物，缩短了收缩时间、松弛时间和幅度。这些效应类似于混合物中一种特定肽的效应。对阴茎神经中肽谱的直接质谱分析表明，还有更多尚未鉴定的神经肽参与阴茎复合体肌肉活动的调节。
