Stimulus-dependent regulation and cellular expression of genes encoding neuropeptides, prohormone convertases, alpha-amidating enzyme and 7B2 in identified Lymnaea neurons.

Synthesis of bioactive peptides is regulated by several post-translational processing events, including cleavage of peptides from a prohormone, and chemical modifications. Using quantitative in situ hybridization and neuron-specific macro-arrays, we first demonstrated cell-type specific expression levels of transcripts encoding prohormone convertases, peptide alpha-amidating enzyme as well as the chaperone 7B2 in Lymnaea neurons. Second, we demonstrated a strict correlation between alpha-amidating enzyme and its neuropeptide substrates.