All articles tagged with #neuropeptides
Researchers discovered that in C. elegans, the neuropeptide FLP-11 acts on the receptor DMSR-1 in different neurons to both initiate and terminate sleep, revealing a potential universal sleep switch mechanism that could inform understanding of sleep control in humans.
Brain cells, or neurons, send messages through a process involving action potentials, synapses, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides. Action potentials are electrical signals triggered in neurons that travel along their axons. When an action potential reaches the end of an axon, neurotransmitters are released into the synapse, where they bind to receptors on the next neuron, potentially generating another action potential. Neuropeptides, on the other hand, take a longer journey around the brain, binding to receptors in distant regions and influencing behavior. Both neurotransmitters and neuropeptides play important roles in neuronal communication and can affect synaptic plasticity and the brain's ability to learn and adapt.
Researchers from Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Life Sciences have discovered a connection between the neuropeptides that regulate food intake in jellyfish and fruit flies, despite their 600 million years of divergence. The GLWamide/MIP system controlling feeding behavior was found to be functionally conserved between the two species, revealing deep evolutionary origins of a conserved satiety signal.
Researchers have studied jellyfish and fruit flies to explore the mechanisms underlying feeding regulation and the evolutionary origins of neuropeptides that control hunger and feelings of fullness. They found that the jellyfish Cladonema regulates how much it eats based on how hungry it is, and identified GLWamide as a feeding-suppressing neuropeptide. GLWamide acts as a satiety signal, indicating that the body has had enough food. The researchers also found that GLWamide and the neuropeptide myoinhibitory peptide (MIP) in fruit flies share similarities in their structures, suggesting they are related through evolution. The study highlights the deep evolutionary origins of a conserved satiety signal and the importance of a comparative approach in investigating the role of molecules, neurons, and circuits in regulating behavior.