Search results for "ecdysteroids"

Analysis of Hemolymph Ecdysteroids in the Female Earwig: Labidura riparia

1991

International audience; The nature of hemolymph ecdysteroids was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-radioimmunoassay, during the two main phases of the reproductive cycles of Labidura riparia. 20-hydroxyecdysone and ecdysone were present together with polar and apoiar products.Changes in the ecdysone/20-hydroxyecdysone ratio were evidenced according to the ovarian development. During natural (feeding and sexual phase of the cycle) or induced ovarian development, an increase of the ratio occurred whereas, during ovarian rest (fasting and/or parental phase), a significant decrease was observed.Up to 40 days after ovariectomy, immunoreactive compounds were observed in the hemol…

Imidazole derivative KK-42 reduces ecdysteroid titers and interferes with reproductive processes in adult females of Tenebrio molitor

2004

0048-3575 doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.pestbp.2004.07.004; KK-42, an imidazole derivative considered as potent inhibitor of ecdysteroid biosynthesis, was tested on adult females of Tenebrio molitor. The compound was applied topically (0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μg/insect) on 0- or 2-day-old adult females or added to the culture medium (1 and 10 μM) of ovaries. To test the effect of KK-42 on the reproduction capacity, ovaries were explanted from 2- and 4-day-old females corresponding, respectively, to follicles at the beginning and the end of vitellogenesis. KK-42 treatment reduced the fecundity and the longevity of females, and in addition, it delayed oviposition and affected growth and development of oocyte…

Quantification of ecdysteroids by immunoassay: comparison of enzyme immunoassay and radioimmunoassay.

1995

Abstract The performance of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and radioimmunoassay (RIA) in the quantitative analysis of ecdysteroids was compared. The EIA was found to be at least equivalent to the RIA with respect to analytical range and sensitivity and to be more comfortable with respect to safety and time saving. When biological samples were analyzed by both assays a good correlation (r = 0.83) was found. Since the EIA has certain advantages over the RIA, we now recommend the use of the former assay for the quantification of ecdysteroids.

The Mutation without childrenrgl Causes Ecdysteroid Deficiency in Third-Instar Larvae of Drosophila melanogaster

2000

Larvae homozygous for the recessive lethal allele without children(rgl) (woc(rgl)) fail to pupariate. Application of exogenous 20-hydroxyecdysone elicits puparium formation and pupation. Ecdysteroid titer measurements on mutant larvae show an endocrine deficiency in the brain-ring gland complex, which normally synthesizes ecdysone, resulting in a failure of the larvae to achieve a threshold whole body hormone titer necessary for molting. Ultrastructural investigation revealed extensive degeneration of the prothoracic cells of the ring gland in older larvae. The woc gene, located in polytene chromosomal region 97F, consists of 11 exons. A 6.8-kb transcript is expressed throughout development…

A new ecdysteroid and other constituents from two Dioscorea species

2008

Phytochemical investigation of the rhizome of Dioscorea dumetorum has led to the isolation by several chromatographic steps on normal and reversed phase silica gel of a new ecdysteroid, (20R)-5β,11α,20-trihydroxyecdysone (1), and two known ecdysteroids, ajugasterone C (2) and herkesterone (3). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods including 1D- and 2D-NMR (COSY, TOCSY, HSQC and HMBC). This is the first report on the occurrence of phytoecdysteroids in the Dioscoreaceae family. These compounds were devoid of antifungal activity against three Candida species (Candida albicans, Candida glabrata and Candida tropicalis, MIC > 200 μg/ml).

Woc (without children) gene control of ecdysone biosynthesis in Drosophila melanogaster.

2001

Abstract The first step in ecdysteroidogenesis, i.e. the 7,8-dehydrogenation of dietary cholesterol (C) to 7-dehydrocholesterol (7dC), is blocked in Drosophila melanogaster homozygous woc (without children) third instar larval ring glands (source of ecdysone). Unlike ring glands from wild-type D. melanogaster larvae, glands from woc mutants cannot convert radiolabelled C or 25-hydroxycholesterol (25C) to 7dC or 7-dehydro-25-hydroxycholesterol (7d25C) in vitro, nor to ecdysone (E). Yet, when these same glands are incubated with synthetic tracer 7d25C, the rate of metabolism of this polar Δ5,7-sterol into E is identical to that observed with glands from comparably staged wild-type larvae. The…

The regulation of expression of insect cuticle protein genes

2010

International audience; The exoskeleton of insects (cuticle) is an assembly of chitin and cuticle proteins. Its physical properties are determined largely by the proteins it contains, and vary widely with developmental stages and body regions. The genes encoding cuticle proteins are therefore good models to study the molecular mechanisms of signalling by ecdysteroids and juvenile hormones, which regulate molting and metamorphosis in insects. This review summarizes the studies of hormonal regulation of insect cuticle protein genes, and the recent progress in the analysis of the regulatory sequences and transcription factors important for their expression.

Hormonal regulation of JP29 in the epidermis during Larval development and metamorphosis in the Tobacco Hornworm, Manduca sexta

1997

Cyclic AMP-dependent and independent stimulations of ovarian steroidogenesis by brain factors in the blowfly, Phormia regina.

2000

0303-7207 doi: DOI: 10.1016/S0303-7207(00)00312-9; The involvement of cyclic-AMP (cAMP) as a potential second messenger in the neurohormonal control of ovarian steroidogenesis was investigated in the adult female blowfly Phormia regina. Individual measurements of ovarian cAMP concentrations and of ovarian biosynthesis of ecdysteroids, stimulated after a protein meal, demonstrated that steroidogenesis is preceded by a peak of cAMP in the ovaries. In vitro, ovarian steroidogenesis was stimulated by cell-permeable analogues of cAMP and by forskolin. Crude brain extracts were also able to elicit a rise of cAMP in the ovaries in vitro and the secretion of ecdysteroids into the medium: such extra…

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…