速激肽是具有多种生物学活性功能的神经多肽家族,该家族在进化过程中具有较高的保守性。昆虫速激肽相关肽与速激肽在序列结构上具有一定的相似性,也属于肽类神经递质,主要分布在昆虫的脑和肠组织中,并通过受体与配体之间的相互作用调节细胞内的一系列信号通路,从而产生多种生物学效应。本文重点介绍家蚕速激肽受体的发现以及通过对配体-受体互作的分析简述其信号转导机制的研究进展。
Tachykinins belong to neuronal polypeptide family with various biological active functions. This family is well conserved in evolutionary process. Insect tachykinin-related peptides (TKRPs) have certain similarity with sequence structure of tachykinins, being peptide neurotransmitter as well. It is mainly expressed in the brain and intestinal tissue of insect, and regulate a series of intracellular signal pathway through receptor and ligand interaction and thus to yield various biological effects. This article focuses on the finding of tachykinin receptors in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, and summarizes the advances in the signal transduction via the analysis of receptor-ligand interaction.