Feedforward compensation mediated by the central and peripheral actions of a single neuropeptide discovered using representational difference analysis.

ABSTRACT: Compensatory mechanisms are often used to achieve stability by reducing variance, which can be accomplished via negative feedback during homeostatic regulation. In principle, compensation can also be implemented through feedforward mechanisms where a regulator acts to offset the anticipated output variation; however, few such neural mechanisms have been demonstrated. We provide evidence that an Aplysia neuropeptide, identified using an enhanced representational difference analysis procedure, implements feedforward compensation within the feeding network. We named the novel peptide "allatotropin-related peptide" (ATRP) because of its similarity to insect allatotropin. Mass spectrometry confirmed the peptide's identity, and in situ hybridization and immunostaining mapped its distribution in

SUBMITTER: Jing J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3072109 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature