A role for amontillado, the Drosophila homolog of the neuropeptide precursor processing protease PC2, in triggering hatching behavior.

ABSTRACT: Accurate proteolytic processing of neuropeptide and peptide hormone precursors by members of the kexin/furin family of proteases is key to determining both the identities and activities of signaling peptides. Here we identify amontillado (amon), the Drosophila melanogaster homolog of the mammalian neuropeptide processing protease PC2, and show that in contrast to vertebrate PC2, amontillado expression undergoes extensive regulation in the nervous system during development. In situ hybridization reveals that expression of amontillado is restricted to the final stages of embryogenesis when it is found in anterior sensory structures and in only 168 cells in the brain and ventral nerve cord. After larvae hatch from their egg shells, the sensory structures and most cells in the CNS turn off or

SUBMITTER: Siekhaus DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6782853 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature