Insect gonadotropic peptide hormones: some recent developments.

Gonadotropic peptides are a new generation of peptide hormone regulators of insect reproduction. They have been isolated from ovaries, oviducts, or brains of insects. The subject of this paper is insect peptides that exert stimulatory or inhibitory effects on ovarian development and oocyte maturation. On the basis of the literature data and the results of our investigations, the structure and biological properties of different groups of peptides are presented.