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Evidence of NAAG-family tripeptide NAAG₂ in the Drosophila nervous system.

ABSTRACT: N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) is a common neurotransmitter in the mammalian nervous system; however, it has never been reported in the nervous system of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Using antiserum against NAAG, we localized NAAG-like immunoreactivity to neurons in the ventral nerve cord and to type Is glutamatergic nerve terminals in larval neuromuscular junctions. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS), we failed to find NAAG but found the related peptide N-acetylaspartylglutamylglutamate (NAAG₂ ) in Drosophila CNS and body wall tissue. This is the first report of any NAAG-family peptide in the nervous system of Drosophila and is also the first report of NAAG₂ being present in a much higher concentration than NAAG in the nervous system of any species. Thus, the larval fruit fly presents an interesting model for the study of the functional role of NAAG₂ of which very little is known-especially in the absence of an abundance of NAAG.

SUBMITTER: Kozik EM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9232120 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evidence of NAAG-family tripeptide NAAG<sub>2</sub> in the Drosophila nervous system.

Kozik Emily M EM Marzluff Elaine M EM Lindgren Clark A CA

Journal of neurochemistry 20200921 1

N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) is a common neurotransmitter in the mammalian nervous system; however, it has never been reported in the nervous system of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Using antiserum against NAAG, we localized NAAG-like immunoreactivity to neurons in the ventral nerve cord and to type Is glutamatergic nerve terminals in larval neuromuscular junctions. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS), we failed to find NAAG but found the related peptide N- ...[more]

PMID: 32885844

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