title: Distribution of the Aplysia cardioexcitatory peptide, NdWFamide, in the central and peripheral nervous systems of Aplysia.
abstract: NdWFamide is an Aplysia cardioexcitatory tri-peptide containing D-tryptophan. To investigate the roles of this peptide, we examined the immunohistochemical distribution of NdWFamide-positive neurons in Aplysia tissues. All the ganglia of the central nervous system (CNS) contained NdWFamide-positive neurons. In particular, two left upper quadrant cells in the abdominal ganglion, and the anterior cells in the pleural ganglion showed extensive positive signals. NdWFamide-positive processes were observed in peripheral tissues, such as those of the cardio-vascular system, digestive tract, and sex-accessory organs, and in the connectives or neuropils in the CNS. NdWFamide-positive neurons were abundant in peripheral plexuses, such as the stomatogastric ring. To examine the NdWFamide contents of tissues, we fractionated peptidic extracts from the respective tissues by reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography and then assayed the fractions by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A fraction corresponding to the retention time of synthetic NdWFamide contained the most immunoreactivity, indicating that the tissues contained NdWFamide. The prevalence of the NdWFamide content was roughly in the order: abdominal ganglion >heart >gill >blood vessels >digestive tract. In most of the tissues containing NdWFamide-positive nerves, NdWFamide modulated the motile activities of the tissues. Thus, NdWFamide seems to be a versatile neurotransmitter/modulator of Aplysia and probably regulates the physiological activities of this animal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, 739-8526, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan. fumi425@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Fumihiro
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Morishita
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: Kosei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanemaru
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Matsushima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001048:Aplysia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001158:Arteries / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D005724:Ganglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism; D005835:Genitalia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; C109335:asparaginyl-tryptophyl-phenylalaninamide