An antiserum raised against locustatachykinin I, one of four myotropic peptides that have been isolated from the locust brain and corpora cardiaca, was characterized by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and used for immunocytochemical detection of neurons and endocrine cells in the nervous system and intestine of the blowfly Calliphora vomitoria. The ELISA characterization indicated that the antiserum recognizes the common C-terminus sequence of the locustatachykinins I-III. Hence, the cross reaction with locustatachykinin IV is less, and in competitive ELISAs no cross reaction was detected with a series of vertebrate tachykinins tested. It was also shown that the antiserum recognized material in extracts of blowfly heads, as measured in ELISA. In high-performance liquid chromatography the extracted locustatachykinin-like immunoreactive (LomTK-LI) material eluted in two different ranges. A fairly large number of LomTK-LI neurons was detected in the blowfly brain and thoracicoabdominal ganglion. A total of about 160 LomTK-LI neurons was seen in the proto-, deuto-, and tritocerebrum and subesophageal ganglion. Immunoreactive processes from these neurons could be traced in many neuropil regions of the brain: superior and dorsomedian protocerebrum, optic tubercle, fan-shaped body and ventral bodies of the central complex, all the glomeruli of the antennal lobes, and tritocerebral and subesophageal neuropil. No immunoreactivity was seen in the mushroom bodies or the optic lobes. In the fused thoracicoabdominal ganglion, 46 LomTK-LI neurons could be resolved. The less evolved larval nervous system was also investigated to obtain additional information on the morphology and projections of immunoreactive neurons. In neither the larval nor the adult nervous systems could we identify any efferent or afferent immunoreactive axons or neurosecretory cells. The widespread distribution of LomTK-LI material in interneurons suggests an important role of the native peptide(s) as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator within the central nervous system. Additionally a regulatory function in the intestine is indicated by the presence of immunoreactivity in endocrine cells of the midgut.

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Immunocytochemical and biochemical studies have indicated the presence of many neuroactive substances in the stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) of the crab Cancer borealis. In electrophysiological studies, many of these substances modulate the motor output of neural networks contained within this system. Previous work in the STNS suggested the presence of neuropeptides related to the invertebrate tachykinin-related peptide (TRP) family. Here we isolate and characterize two novel peptides from the C. borealis nervous system that show strong amino acid sequence identity to the invertebrate TRPs. The central nervous systems of 160 crabs were extracted in an acidified solvent, after which four reversed-phase HPLC column systems were used to obtain pure peptides. A cockroach hindgut muscle contraction bioassay and a radioimmunoassay (RIA) employing an antiserum to locustatachykinin I (Lom TK I) were used to monitor all collected fractions. The amino acid sequences of the isolated peptides were determined by Edman degradation. Mass spectrometry and chemical synthesis confirmed the sequences to be APSGFLGMR-NH2 and SGFLGMR-NH2. APSGFLGMR-NH2 is approximately 20-fold more abundant in the crab central nervous system than is SGFLGMR-NH2. We have named these peptides Cancer borealis tachykinin-related peptide Ia and Ib (CabTRP Ia and Ib), respectively. Both peptides are myoactive in the cockroach hindgut muscle contraction bioassay, with CabTRP Ia being approximately 500 times more potent than CabTRP Ib. RIA performed on HPLC-separated C. borealis stomatogastric ganglion (STG) extract revealed that CabTRP Ia is the only detectable TRP-like moiety in this ganglion. Incubation of synthetic CabTRP Ia with the isolated STG excited the pyloric motor pattern. These effects were suppressed by the broad-spectrum tachykinin receptor antagonist Spantide I. Spantide I had no effect on the actions of the unrelated endogenous peptide proctolin in the STG. There was no consistent influence of CabTRP Ib on the pyloric rhythm. Given its amino acid sequence and minimal biological activity in the crab, CabTRP Ib may be a breakdown product of CabTRP Ia.

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Two peptides, related to the locust myotropic peptides locustatachykinin I-IV, were isolated from the blowfly Calliphora vomitoria. Whole, frozen flies were used for extraction with acidified methanol. A cockroach hindgut muscle contraction bioassay was used for monitoring fractions during subsequent purification steps. A series of eight different high performance liquid chromatography column systems was required to obtain optically pure peptides. Two peptides were isolated and their sequences determined by Edman degradation and confirmed by mass spectrometry and chemical synthesis as APTAFYGVR-NH2 and GLGNNAFVGVR-NH2. They were named callitachykinin I and II. The peptides have sequence similarities to the locustatachykinins and vertebrate tachykinins. Both callitachykinins were recognized by an antiserum to locustatachykinin I in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests and callitachykinin II was additionally recognized by an antiserum to the vertebrate tachykinin kassinin, suggesting that immunolabeling of blowfly neurons with these antisera is due to neuronal callitachykinins.