• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.295-301
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• 2014

SIFamide receptor (SIFR) is a Drosophila G protein-coupled receptor for the neuropeptide SIFamide (SIFa). Although the sequence and spatial expression of SIFa are evolutionarily conserved among insect species, the physiological function of SIFa/SIFR signaling remains elusive. Here, we provide genetic evidence that SIFa and SIFR promote sleep in Drosophila. Either genetic ablation of SIFa-expressing neurons in the pars intercerebralis (PI) or pan-neuronal depletion of SIFa expression shortened baseline sleep and reduced sleep-bout length, suggesting that it caused sleep fragmentation. Consistently, RNA interference-mediated knockdown of SIFR expression caused short sleep phenotypes as observed in SIFa-ablated or depleted flies. Using a panel of neuron-specific Gal4 drivers, we further mapped SIFR effects to subsets of PI neurons. Taken together, these results reveal a novel physiological role of the neuropeptide SIFa/SIFR pathway to regulate sleep through sleep-promoting neural circuits in the PI of adult fly brains.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1116-1119
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• 2003

Ma huang, the dried plant stem of Ephedra Intermedia Schrenk et CA, is one of the well known medicinal herbs, and has been used for the diaphoretic, antiasthmatic, and diuretic actions. Ma huang is an ephedrine type alkaloid used for the weight loss and energy expenditure. Medications based on the Ma huang have been found to be effective in the treatment of obesity. Neuropeptide Y (NPY), a 36-amino-acid peptide and concentrated in the hypothalamus, stimulates feeding desire and decrease energy expenditure. In the present study, the effect of Ma huang on the expression of NPY in the rat hypothalamus was investigated using immunohistochemistry. The present results demonstrated that Ma huang treatment suppressed weight gain and NPY expression in the hypothalamus depending upon the dosage used. Based on the results, it can be suggested that Ma huang treatment is effective in curbing the desire for food via modulation of NPY expression under the normal conditions.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.491-496
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• 2000

Food intake is regulated by both central and peripheral mechanisms. In the central nervous, the hypothalamus acts for autonomic and endocrine homeostasis. The paraventricular nucleus(PVN) of hypothalamus is an imprtant site of interaction in central feeding pathways. Neuroepetide Y(NPY)is one of the most powerful neurochemical stimulants of food intake known. Also brain nitric oxide(NO), known as neurotransmitter, is involved in the mechanisms that regulate food intake. In this experiment, 24h fasting mice and anorexia mutant mice have been to examine the expression of NPY, which is the major neuropeptide increasing food intake. Double staining with NPY and nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide-phosphate diaphorase(NADPH-d), followed by immunohistochemical method and image analysis, have been used to observe coexisting neurons and the level of expression of each neurons. The results were as follows. 1) NPY-immunoreactivitys reduced immune response of the hypothalamus, particularly paraventricular nucleus(PVN), in anorexia mutant mice. Decreased level of NPY is assumed to be a major pathological factor in anorexia mutant mice. On the other hand, PVN in hypothalamus of fasting mice showed increased immunoreactivity which is in agreement of other researchers. 2) NPY and NADPH-d double staining revealed coexisting neurons in the cerebral cortex. Fasting mice had a tendency to have increased level of coexisting neurons compared to the control group. Compared to the control group, fasting mice express is not increase level of NPY-immunoreactivity, while anorexia mutant mice tended to have a decreased level.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2016.10a
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• pp.919-922
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• 2016

Neuronal cells and Schwann cells from dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in embryos of rat were isolated and cultured in vitro respectively. The purified neuronal cells added with anti-mitotic agents and purified Schwann cells were co-cultured and then accomplished myelination processing. This myelinated co-culture system was infected by herpes simplex virus-1 and then accomplished demyelination processing in this myelinated co-culture. We identified myelination and demyelination processing using antibody of neuropeptide Y meaning presence of myelinated neuron.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.572-578
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• 2022

An organism's physiological processes and behaviors are regulated by neuropeptides and hormone peptides. The first neuropeptide identified from echinoderms is SALMFamide. The two most well-studied SALMFamide neuropeptides are S1 and S2, which possess myoactivity on apical muscle, tube feet, and the cardiac stomach of starfishes. However, neuropeptide candidates identified from SALMFamide's precursor protein sequence have not been investigated. This study aims to compare the bioactivity of SALMFamide neuropeptides from the starfish Asterias rubens using various starfish muscle preparations. In this study, the bioactivity of the L-type SALMFamide neuropeptides from the starfish A. rubens, AYHTGLPFamide (SALMFa-A) and the derivative AYHSALMFamide (SALMFa-B) was investigated. The neuropeptides were applied on Asterias amurensis apical muscle, tube feet, which revealed that the neuropeptides exhibit relaxing activity on apical muscle but no activity on tube feet. The native SALMFa-A peptide had lower relaxing activity on the apical muscle compared to the derivative peptide SALMFa-B. The relaxing activity of two neuropeptides also was compared with those on the apical muscle of Patiria pectinifera, which revealed relaxing activity as well as SALMFamide-S1 and S2 neuropeptides. Moreover, the investigation of SALMFa-A and SALMFa-B peptides' bioactivity on P. pectinifera cardiac stomach muscle also showed slight relaxing activity.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 1996

The present study was performed to investigate the distribution of neuropeptide Y immunoreactivities in the corpus striatum of the Korean squirrels. The animals were perfused with 4%-paraformaldehyde and the brain was cut serially into $40{\mu}m$ thick coronal sections. Sections either were stained with cresyl violet or were stained immunohistochemically. The corpus striatum was divided into the caudate nucleus, putamen and globus pallidus. Anterior part. however, of the striatum was observed as the combined caudate-putamen. NPY immunoreactive (NPY-IR) neurons were medium-sized. The corpus striatum contained a low level of NPY-IR fibers, whose distribution appeared to be related to the immunoreactive perikarya. Large numbers of NPY-IR neurons in the caudate-putamen and caudate nucleus were expressed in medial and ventral parts. In the anterior part of the putamen NPY-IR neurons were scattered throughout the nucleus; in posterior part were found generally in the lateral and ventral parts. The density of NPY-IR fibers of the putamen were low, whose distribution appeared to be related to the perikarya. The globus pallidus contained NPY-IR fibers only in the lowest density. In brief, NPY-immunoreactivities in the corpus striatum are heterogenous in distribution. These findings may reflect innate characteristics of the specific neural circuit in the corpus striatum itself.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.721-726
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• 2016

It has already been reported that short neuropeptide F (sNPF) stimulates feeding behaviors in a wide variety of insect species. In the present study, we cloned cDNA, encoding a sNPF receptor homologue from a silkworm, Bombyx mori, named BsNPF-R. The amino acid sequence of BsNPF-R was compared with those of sNPF-R thus far reported, which is shared with humans (36%), mice (34%), zebrafish (35%), and fruit flies (51%), respectively. A BsNPF-R protein’s mass was theoretically estimated to be 42,731 Da and it is a putative plasma membrane-penetrating protein. The mRNA expression of BsNPF-R was tested; the results showed that a strong expression was detected at the midgut, post-silk gland, Malpighian, and testis; however, a weak expression was at the fat body, hemocyte, and ovary. In addition, the synthesized sNPF of a silkworm regulated the BsNPF-R mRNA expression through the cell-based functional analysis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.27-27
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.6-6
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• 2006

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Entomolohy Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.47-47
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• 2002