Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/13790
Title: Endocrine archeology: Do insects retain ancestrally inherited counterparts of the vertebrate releasing hormones GnRH, GHRH, TRH, and CRF?
Authors: De Loof, Arnold
Lindemans, Marleen
LIU, Feng 
De Groef, Bert
Schoofs, Liliane
Issue Date: 2012
Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
Source: GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY, 177 (1), p. 18-27
Abstract: Vertebrate releasing hormones include gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), corticotropin releasing hormone (CRF), and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). They are synthesized in the hypothalamus and stimulate the release of pituitary hormones. Here we review the knowledge on hormone releasing systems in the protostomian lineage. We address the question: do insects have peptides that may be phylogenetically related to an ancestral GnRH, GHRH, TRH, and CRF? Such endocrine archeology has become possible thanks to the growing list of fully sequenced genomes as well as to the continuously improving bioinformatic tool set. It has recently been shown that the ecdysozoan (nematodes and arthropods) adipokinetic hormones (AKHs), the lophotrochozoan (annelids and mollusks) GnRHs as well as the protochordate GnRHs are structurally related. The adipokinetic hormone precursor-related peptides (APRPs), in locusts encoded by the same gene that contains the AKH-coding region, have been forwarded as the structural counterpart of GHRH of vertebrates. CRF is relatively well conserved in insects, in which it functions as a diuretic hormone. Members of TRH-receptor family seem to have been conserved in some arthropods, but other elements of the thyroid hormone signaling system are not. A challenging idea is that in insects the functions of the thyroid hormones were taken over by juvenile hormone OH). Our reconstruction suggests that, perhaps, the ancestral releasing hormone precursors played a role in controlling energy metabolism and water balance, and that releasing hormone functions as present in extant vertebrates were probably secondarily acquired. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Notes: [De Loof, Arnold; Lindemans, Marleen; Schoofs, Liliane] KU Leuven Univ Leuven, Dept Biol, Funct Genom & Prote Grp, Louvain, Belgium. [Liu, Feng] Hasselt Univ, Transportat Res Inst, Data Anal & Modeling Grp, Diepenbeek, Belgium. [De Groef, Bert] La Trobe Univ, Sch Life Sci, Dept Agr Sci, Bundoora, Vic 3086, Australia.
Keywords: Releasing hormone;Insect hormones;Neuropeptides;AKH;Gonadotropin;GnRH
Document URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/13790
ISSN: 0016-6480
e-ISSN: 1095-6840
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2012.02.002
ISI #: 000304511500003
Rights: 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Category: A1
Type: Journal Contribution
Validations: ecoom 2013
Appears in Collections:Research publications

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
de loof1.pdf
  Restricted Access
Published version406.47 kBAdobe PDFView/Open    Request a copy
Show full item record

SCOPUSTM   
Citations

22
checked on Sep 2, 2020

WEB OF SCIENCETM
Citations

23
checked on Mar 21, 2024

Page view(s)

70
checked on Sep 7, 2022

Download(s)

54
checked on Sep 7, 2022

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.