title: Co-localization of ecdysteroid receptors and c-fos-like protein in the brain of Manduca sexta larvae.
abstract: The presence of c-fos, a marker for cell activation, was investigated in cerebral neurons actively expressing ecdysteroid receptors during larval-pupal development in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. Colocalization was accomplished by ecdysteroid autoradiography using the tritiated high affinity 20-hydroxyecdysone agonist ponasterone A and immunocytochemistry with an antibody to a peptide sequence which is highly conserved in both human and murine c-fos. Immunoreactivity to a c-fos-like protein(s) was present in nuclei of many neurons of all the developmental stages examined. However, with the exception of the optic lobe, cells expressing nuclear ecdysteroid receptors were more immunoreactive than non-ecdysteroid-binding neurons. These data suggest that ecdysteroid-induced gene activation and translation may involve c-fos expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 522 Taylor Hall, 27599-7090, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bidmon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 522 Taylor Hall, 27599-7090, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Noelle Audrey
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Granger
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 522 Taylor Hall, 27599-7090, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Walter Erich
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Stumpf
keywords: Central nervous system; Ecdysteroid-receptor; Insecta; Transcriptional activator; c-fos oncoprotein