title: Distribution of catch-relaxing peptide (CARP)-like immunoreactive neurons in the central and peripheral nervous system of Helix pomatia.
abstract: Immunocytochemistry was performed on the nervous system of Helix by the use of an antibody raised against a myotropic neuropeptide, the catch-relaxing peptide (CARP), isolated from Mytilus edulis. In each ganglion of the central nervous system of Helix pomatia, numerous CARP-immunoreactive cell bodies and a dense immunoreactive fiber system could be observed with a dominancy in the cerebral and pedal ganglia. The majority of the immunoreactive neurons are unipolar, although multipolar neurons also occur. In the neuropil areas, CARP-immunoreactive fibers show extensive arborization, which may indicate a central role of CARP. CARP-immunoreactive elements could be observed in each investigated peripheral nerve and peripheral areas, namely in the intestine, heart, aorta, buccal mass, lips, and foot. However, CARP-immunoreactive cell bodies could only be demonstrated in the intestine and the foot musculature. Thin varicose CARP-immunoreactive fibers were observed over both muscle and gland cells in the different peripheral organs, suggesting a peripheral role of CARP. In vivo CARP injection into the body cavity (10(-3), 10(-4), 10(-5) M) altered the general behavioral state of the animals and induced the relaxation of the musculature of the whole body wall indicating that CARP has a significant role in the regulation of muscle contraction.
authors.affiliation: Balaton Limnological Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Tihany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hernádi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Terano
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Muneoka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kiss
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D017952:Ganglia, Invertebrate / Q000737:chemistry; D006372:Helix, Snails / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009068:Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D009126:Muscle Relaxation / Q000187:drug effects; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009842:Oligopeptides; C054127:catch-relaxing peptide (Mytilus)