NONSULFATED SULFAKININ CHANGES METABOLIC PARAMETERS OF INSECT FAT BODY MITOCHONDRIA.

We investigated the effect of neuropeptide, the nonsulfated sulfakinin (SK) Zopat-SK-1 (pETSDDYGHLRFa) on the mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in the Zophobas atratus larval fat body. Mitochondria were isolated from beetle fat bodies 2 and 24 h after hormone injection. The administration of 20 pmol of Zopat-SK-1 to feeding larvae led to decreased mitochondrial oxidative activities in larval fat body. Diminished activities of citrate synthase and the cytochrome pathway, that is, nonphosphorylating and phosphorylating respiration during succinate oxidation, were observed. However, the effect of Zopat-SK-1 was more pronounced in fat body of insects after 24 h since hormone application. In hormone-treated larval fat bodies, mitochondrial respiration was decreased at the level of respiratory chain and the TCA cycle as well as at the level of mitochondrial biogenesis, as indicated by decreased activities of mitochondrial marker enzymes in fat body homogenates. The inhibition of succinate oxidation may indicate the role of Zopat-SK-1 in the regulation of mitochondrial complex II activity. Moreover, decreased respiratory chain activity was accompanied by the reduced activity of mitochondrial energy-dissipating pathway, uncoupling protein 4. The observed decrease in mitochondrial oxidative metabolism may reflect the Zopat-SK-1-induced reduction in the metabolic rate of larval fat body linked to actual energetic demands of animal.