Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1979 Oct;76(10):5148–5152. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.10.5148

In vitro activation of insect prothoracic glands by the prothoracicotropic hormone

Walter E Bollenbacher 1, Noriaki Agui 1, Noelle A Granger 1, Lawrence I Gilbert 1,*
PMCID: PMC413097  PMID: 16578758

Abstract

An in vitro assay for the prothoracicotropic hormone has been developed that utilizes an ecdysone radioimmunoassay to quantify the increase in the rate of ecdysone synthesis elicited by the neurohormonal activation of the prothoracic glands. The rapidity, reproducibility, and accuracy of the assay were maximized by using one member of a gland pair as the control and the other as the test gland. This was possible because the basal rates of ecdysone synthesis by the members of a gland pair were equivalent. Activation was demonstrated to be dose dependent and specific, with prothoracicotropic hormone activity present only in homogenates of brain. The in vitro activation of the prothoracic glands was verified with the Manduca bioassay for the prothoracicotropic hormone in which the morphological responses to the hormone were correlated with increased in vivo ecdysone titers. These results provide unequivocal evidence that the activation of the prothoracic glands by the prothoracicotropic hormone is direct and suggest that activation represents an increase in a basal rate of ecdysone synthesis.

Keywords: Manduca sexta, neurohormone, ecdysone synthesis, endocrine regulation, metamorphosis

Full text

PDF
5149

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bollenbacher W. E., Vedeckis W. V., Gilbert L. I. Ecdysone titers and prothoracic gland activity during the larval-pupal development of Manduca sexta. Dev Biol. 1975 May;44(1):46–53. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(75)90375-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Borst D. W., O'connor J. D. Arthropod molting hormone: radioimmune assay. Science. 1972 Oct 27;178(4059):418–419. doi: 10.1126/science.178.4059.418. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gibbs D., Riddiford L. M. Prothoracicotropic hormone in Manduca sexta: localization by a larval assay. J Exp Biol. 1977 Feb;66(1):255–266. doi: 10.1242/jeb.66.1.255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Goldsworthy G. J., Mordue W. Neurosecretory hormones in insects. J Endocrinol. 1974 Mar;60(3):529–558. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.0600529. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. King D. S., Bollenbacher W. E., Borst D. W., Vedeckis W. V., O'connor J. D., Ittycheriah P. I., Gilbert L. I. The Secretion of alpha-Ecdysone by the Prothoracic Glands of Manduca sexta In Vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Mar;71(3):793–796. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.3.793. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Truman J. W., Riddiford L. M. Physiology of insect rhythms. 3. The temporal organization of the endocrine events underlying pupation of the tobacco hornworm. J Exp Biol. 1974 Apr;60(2):371–382. doi: 10.1242/jeb.60.2.371. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Weevers R. D. A lepidopteran saline: effects of inorganic cation concentrations on sensory, reflex and motor responses in a herbivorous insect. J Exp Biol. 1966 Feb;44(1):163–175. doi: 10.1242/jeb.44.1.163. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES