Receptor Characterization and Functional Activity of Pyrokinins on the Hindgut in the Adult Mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: Pyrokinins are structurally related insect neuropeptides, characterized by their myotropic, pheromonotropic and melanotropic roles in some insects, but their function is unclear in blood-feeding arthropods. In the present study, we functionally characterized the pyrokinin-1 and pyrokinin-2 receptors (PK1-R and PK2-R, respectively), in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, using a heterologous cell system to characterize their selective and dose-responsive activation by members of two distinct pyrokinin subfamilies. We also assessed transcript-level expression of these receptors in adult organs and found the highest level of PK1-R transcript in the posterior hindgut (rectum) while PK2-R expression was enriched in the anterior hindgut (ileum) as well as in reproductive organs, sug

SUBMITTER: Lajevardi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7255104 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature