Animals switch behaviors and metabolisms when food is abundant and when they are depleted.This is a complex and finely controlled function, and many regulatory factor peptides (proteins to which a small number of amino acids are bound) are known in humans.Of these, neuropeptide Y (NPY) in mammals is important for the regulation of feeding by the nervous system, but similar peptides do not exist in invertebrates, and their evolutionary origin is unknown.

　So far, the Miyazaki University group has focused on unknown peptidic factors responsible for feeding control and has been conducting research on both mammals and invertebrates.Focusing on the receptor (CG5811) activated by mammalian NPY in Drosophila, we further searched for its activator.As a result, a new bioactive peptide (dRYamide) was discovered.

　This time, the group of the University of Tokyo and Miyazaki University focused on nematodes, and acted on the cultured cells expressing GC5811 with an extract of nematodes, and the activation of this receptor was used as an index for the peptide named LURY-1. Successful isolation. LURY-1 is similar in structure to dRYamide and is expressed only in the pharynx (the organ of the throat that takes in food).Furthermore, it was found that it is secreted when there is a lot of food and the pharynx is active, and it acts on nerve cells to control overfeeding.In addition, it has the effect of promoting egg laying, and as a result, it was found that nematodes lay eggs when there is a lot of food.

This discovery is expected to lead to an understanding of the mechanism of feeding control common to all animals including humans, not limited to nematodes, and to the search for the cause of human overeating and anorexia nervosa.

Paper information:[ELife] Luqin-like RYamide peptides regulate food-evoked responses in C. elegan