Search results for "Ecdysteroid"
showing 4 items of 34 documents
Inhibition of ovarian steroidogenesis by cyclic-GMP in a fly
2003
1479-6805 0022-0795; Previous investigations in the female blowfly Phormia regina have shown that 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), a broad spectrum inhibitor of phosphodiesterases (PDEs), fails to mimic the steroidogenic effects of cAMP on ovaries, although it efficiently increases the concentrations of this second messenger. In this study, experiments carried out to clear up this contradiction demonstrated that IBMX, besides its effect on cAMP, also increased cGMP concentrations in blowfly ovary and that these two cyclic nucleotides controlled ovarian steroidogenesis antagonistically. In particular, a selective inhibitor of cGMP-specific PDEs, unlike IBMX, had a very strong negative eff…
Developmental changes and acetylcholinesterase activity in the metamorphosing brain ofTenebrio molitor: Correlation to ecdysteroid titers
1994
The brain of Tenebrio molitor exhibited marked fluctuations in acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity throughout metamorphosis. This was true AChE activity, since it was inhibited by high substrate concentrations and by 10 μM of the specific AChE inhibitor BW284C51 [(1,5-bis'4-allyldimethylammoniumphenyl)-pentan-3-one dibromide] but not by iso-OMPA (tetraisopropylpyrophosphoramide), a cholinesterase (but not AChE) inhibitor. The histochemical AChE activity was localized in the neuropile and the nuclear envelope of neurons and glial cells. The enzyme extracted from brains with 1% Triton X-100 and 1 M NaCl sedimented as a single peak in a sucrose density gradient, with a sedimentation coefficie…
Calcium inhibits ovarian steroidogenesis in the blowfly Phormia regina.
2002
1479-6805 0022-0795; Calcium is frequently involved in the stimulation of steroidogenesis in gonads and endocrine glands, generally in association with cAMP. However, our present observations show that it has the opposite effect in the ovary of the blowfly Phormia regina. Our in vitro experiments first showed that extracellular calcium does not play a role during the stimulation of steroidogenesis in fly ovaries; indeed steroidogenesis was activated in vitro as efficiently in a medium with or without calcium, either by pharmacological compounds mimicking cAMP signaling or by active brain extracts. When calcium was experimentally introduced into biosynthetic cells by ionophores or liberated …
Ovicidal Activity of Maternally Applied Ecdysteroids in the Large Milkweed Bug (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae)
1982
Exogenous ecdysteroids (ecdysone, 20-hydroxyecdysone and makisterone A) administered to reproducing females of Oncopelus fasciatus (Dallas) reduced egg hatch drastically. The ovicidal activity apparently stemmed from ecdysteroids—unchanged hormone or metabolites—transferred from mother into oocyte. Different stages of embryogenesis were affected. Makisterone A, the predominant ecdysteroid in normal embryos, is by far the most effective ecdysteroid.