Strategic expression of ion transport peptide gene products in central and peripheral neurons of insects

Structurally related ion transport peptides (ITP) and crustacean hyperglycemic hormones (CHH) are increasingly implicated in diverse metabolic and developmental functions in arthropods. We identified a conserved ITP gene encoding two peptides by alternative splicing in Manduca sexta, Bombyx mori, and Aedes aegypti: A C-terminally amidated ITP and a C-terminally unblocked ITP-like peptide (ITPL), which share common N-terminal sequences but have divergent C-termini. In the moth M. sexta, these peptides are expressed in two, regionally distinct neuronal populations in the central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS, PNS). MasITP expression is confined to the brain in five pairs of lateral neurosecretory cells (type Ia(2)) projecting ipsilateral axons into the retrocerebral complex and three to five pairs of adjacent small neurons that arborize extensively within the brain. Expression of MasITPL is comparatively weak in the brain but strong in the ventral ganglia and the PNS, where MasITP is absent. MasITPL occurs in bilaterally paired neurons of all thoracic and abdominal ganglia. In the PNS, MasITPL is coexpressed with crustacean cardioactive peptide in type II link nerve neurons (L1) of abdominal segments 2-7, which project axons into neurohemal transverse nerves. During metamorphosis, additional expression of MasITPL is observed in two pairs of small lateral neurons in the brain and one pair of ventromedial neurons in each of AG2-6. A similar pattern of differential ITP and ITPL expression was observed in the CNS and PNS of B. mori and Schistocerca americana. These distinctive cellular expression patterns suggest that ITP and ITPL have evolved specialized physiological functions in arthropods.