Ecdysone-dependent feedback regulation of prothoracicotropic hormone controls the timing of developmental maturation.
Development
; 147(14)2020 07 24.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32631830
ABSTRACT
The activation of a neuroendocrine system that induces a surge in steroid production is a conserved initiator of the juvenile-to-adult transition in many animals. The trigger for maturation is the secretion of brain-derived neuropeptides, yet the mechanisms controlling the timely onset of this event remain ill-defined. Here, we show that a regulatory feedback circuit controlling the Drosophila neuropeptide Prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) triggers maturation onset. We identify the Ecdysone Receptor (EcR) in the PTTH-expressing neurons (PTTHn) as a regulator of developmental maturation onset. Loss of EcR in these PTTHn impairs PTTH signaling, which delays maturation. We find that the steroid ecdysone dose-dependently affects Ptth transcription, promoting its expression at lower concentrations and inhibiting it at higher concentrations. Our findings indicate the existence of a feedback circuit in which rising ecdysone levels trigger, via EcR activity in the PTTHn, the PTTH surge that generates the maturation-inducing ecdysone peak toward the end of larval development. Because steroid feedback is also known to control the vertebrate maturation-inducing hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, our findings suggest an overall conservation of the feedback-regulatory neuroendocrine circuitry that controls the timing of maturation initiation.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Receptors, Steroid
/
Drosophila Proteins
/
Insect Hormones
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Development
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
EMBRIOLOGIA
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Denmark