Manduca sexta prothoracicotropic hormone: evidence for a role beyond steroidogenesis

Prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) is a homodimeric brain peptide hormone that positively regulates the production of ecdysteroids by the prothoracic gland of Lepidoptera and probably other insects. PTTH was first purified from heads of adult domestic silkworms, Bombyx mori. Prothoracic glands of Bom...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of insect biochemistry and physiology 2009-04, Vol.70 (4), p.217-229
Main Authors: Rybczynski, Robert, Snyder, Chelsea A, Hartmann, John, Sakurai, Sho, Gilbert, Lawrence I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
accessory glands
Animals
apoptosis
Bombyx mori
brain
Brain - metabolism
ecdysteroids
Ecdysteroids - biosynthesis
hormonal regulation
Insect Hormones - metabolism
Larva - physiology
Lepidoptera
Manduca sexta
Moths - physiology
neuropepeptide
neuropeptides
phosphorylation
protein phosphorylation
protein synthesis
prothoracic glands
prothoracicotropic hormone
PTTH
Pupa - physiology
reproduction
steroidogenesis
translation
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Summary:Prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) is a homodimeric brain peptide hormone that positively regulates the production of ecdysteroids by the prothoracic gland of Lepidoptera and probably other insects. PTTH was first purified from heads of adult domestic silkworms, Bombyx mori. Prothoracic glands of Bombyx and Manduca sexta undergo apoptosis well before the adult stage is reached, raising the recurring question of PTTH function at these later stages. Because Bombyx has been domesticated for thousands of years, the possibility exists that the presence of PTTH in adult animals is an accidental result of domestication for silk production. In contrast, Manduca has been raised in the laboratory for only five or six decades. The present study found that Manduca brains contain PTTH at all stages examined post-prothoracic gland apoptosis, i.e., pharate adult and adult life, and that PTTH-dependent changes in protein phosphorylation and protein synthesis were observed in several reproductive and reproduction-associated organs. The data indicate that PTTH indeed plays a role in non-steroidogenic tissues and suggest possible future avenues for determining which cellular processes are being so regulated.
ISSN:0739-4462
1520-6327
DOI:10.1002/arch.20295