Molecular cloning, expression pattern, and immunocytochemical localization of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone-like molecule in the gastropod mollusk, Aplysia californica.

ABSTRACT: Successful reproduction in vertebrates depends upon the actions of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Despite the wide presence of GnRH in Phylum Chordata, GnRH has not been isolated in protostomes other than the common octopus. To provide information on the evolution of this critical hormone, we isolated the full-length cDNA of a GnRH-like molecule from the central nervous system of a gastropod mollusk, the sea hare Aplysia californica. The open reading frame of this cDNA encodes a protein of 147 amino acids. The molecular architecture of the deduced protein is highly homologous to that reported for the prepro-octopus GnRH (oct-GnRH) and consists of a putative signal peptide, a GnRH dodecapeptide, a downstream processing site, and a GnRH-associated peptide (GAP). The deduced amino aci

SUBMITTER: Zhang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2330098 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature