Neuromodulatory pathways in learning and memory: Lessons from invertebrates.

In an ever-changing environment, animals have to continuously adapt their behaviour. The ability to learn from experience is crucial for animals to increase their chances of survival. It is therefore not surprising that learning and memory evolved early in evolution and are mediated by conserved molecular mechanisms.

NPY/NPF-Related Neuropeptide FLP-34 Signals from Serotonergic Neurons to Modulate Aversive Olfactory Learning in .

Aversive learning is fundamental for animals to increase chances of survival. In addition to classical neurotransmitters, neuropeptides have emerged to modulate such complex behaviors. Among them, neuropeptide Y (NPY) is well known to promote aversive memory acquisition in mammals.

Neuromedin U signaling regulates retrieval of learned salt avoidance in a C. elegans gustatory circuit.

Learning and memory are regulated by neuromodulatory pathways, but the contribution and temporal requirement of most neuromodulators in a learning circuit are unknown. Here we identify the evolutionarily conserved neuromedin U (NMU) neuropeptide family as a regulator of C. elegans gustatory aversive learning.

Myoinhibitory peptide signaling modulates aversive gustatory learning in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Aversive learning and memories are crucial for animals to avoid previously encountered stressful stimuli and thereby increase their chance of survival. Neuropeptides are essential signaling molecules in the brain and are emerging as important modulators of learned behaviors, but their precise role is not well understood. Here, we show that neuropeptides of the evolutionarily conserved MyoInhibitory Peptide (MIP)-family modify salt chemotaxis behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans according to previous experience.

Evolutionarily conserved TRH neuropeptide pathway regulates growth in .

In vertebrates thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is a highly conserved neuropeptide that exerts the hormonal control of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels as well as neuromodulatory functions. However, a functional equivalent in protostomian animals remains unknown, although TRH receptors are conserved in proto- and deuterostomians. Here we identify a TRH-like neuropeptide precursor in that belongs to a bilaterian family of TRH precursors.

Characterization of a neuropeptide F receptor in the tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans morsitans.

Neuropeptides related to mammalian neuropeptide Y (NPY) and insect neuropeptide F (NPF) are conserved throughout Metazoa and intimately involved in a wide range of biological processes. In insects NPF is involved in regulating feeding, learning, stress and reproductive behavior. Here we identified and characterized an NPF receptor of the tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans morsitans, the sole transmitter of Trypanosoma parasites causing sleeping sickness.

Molecular characterization of a short neuropeptide F signaling system in the tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans morsitans.

Neuropeptides of the short neuropeptide F (sNPF) family are widespread among arthropods and found in every sequenced insect genome so far. Functional studies have mainly focused on the regulatory role of sNPF in feeding behavior, although this neuropeptide family has pleiotropic effects including in the control of locomotion, osmotic homeostasis, sleep, learning and memory. Here, we set out to characterize and determine possible roles of sNPF signaling in the haematophagous tsetse fly Glossina morsitans morsitans, a vector of African Trypanosoma parasites causing human and animal African trypanosomiasis.

Corrigendum: the FMRFamide-like peptide family in nematodes.

[This corrects the article on p. 90 in vol. 5, PMID: 24982652.

Characterization of G protein-coupled receptors by a fluorescence-based calcium mobilization assay.

For more than 20 years, reverse pharmacology has been the preeminent strategy to discover the activating ligands of orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The onset of a reverse pharmacology assay is the cloning and subsequent transfection of a GPCR of interest in a cellular expression system. The heterologous expressed receptor is then challenged with a compound library of candidate ligands to identify the receptor-activating ligand(s).

The FMRFamide-Like Peptide Family in Nematodes.

In the three decades since the FMRFamide peptide was isolated from the mollusk Macrocallista nimbosa, structurally similar peptides sharing a C-terminal RFamide motif have been identified across the animal kingdom. FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs) represent the largest known family of neuropeptides in invertebrates. In the phylum Nematoda, at least 32 flp-genes are classified, making the FLP system of nematodes unusually complex.