TY - JOUR A1 - Blenau, Wolfgang A1 - Baumann, Arnd T1 - Molecular characterization of the ebony gene from the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana N2 - Biogenic amines are an important class of primary messengers in the central (CNS) and peripheral nervous systems and in peripheral organs. These substances regulate and modulate many physiological and behavioral processes. Various inactivation mechanisms for these substances exist to terminate biogenic amine-mediated signal transduction. In vertebrates, the enzymes monoamine oxidase and/or catechol-O-methyl-transferase are involved in these processes. In insects, however, in which both enzymes are low in abundance or absent, biogenic amines are inactivated mainly by N- acetylation or O-sulphation. In Droso-philo, beta-alanyl conjugation mediated by the Ebony protein has recently been shown to be a novel and alternative pathway for biogenic amine inactivation. Here, we report the cloning of ebony cDNA (Peaebony) from a brain-specific cDNA library of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. The open reading frame encodes a protein of 860 amino acid residues (PeaEbony). The PeaEbony polypeptide shares homology to Ebony sequences from Anopheles gambiae, Apis mellifera, and Drosophila melonogaster. In addition, PeaEbony exhibits sequence similarity to a family of microbial non-ribosomal peptide synthetases. The mRNA encoding PeaEbony is highly expressed in the cockroach brain and to a lesser extent in the salivary glands. PeaEbony is, therefore, probably involved in the inactivation of various biogenic amines through beta-alanyl conjugation in the cockroach CNS. Since the salivary glands in Periplaneta are innervated by dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons, PeaEbony probably also biochemically modifies dopamine and serotonin in these acinar glands. Arch. Insect Biochem. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc Y1 - 2005 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Blenau, Wolfgang A1 - Grohmann, Lore A1 - Erber, Joachim A1 - Ebert, Paul R. A1 - Strünker, Timo A1 - Baumann, Arnd T1 - Molecular and functional characterization of an octopamine receptor from honeybee (Apis mellifera) brain N2 - Biogenic amines and their receptors regulate and modulate many physiological and behavioural processes in animals. In vertebrates, octopamine is only found in trace amounts and its function as a true neurotransmitter is unclear. In protostomes, however, octopamine can act as neurotransmitter, neuromodulator and neurohormone. In the honeybee, octopamine acts as a neuromodulator and is involved in learning and memory formation. The identification of potential octopamine receptors is decisive for an understanding of the cellular pathways involved in mediating the effects of octopamine. Here we report the cloning and functional characterization of the first octopamine receptor from the honeybee, Apis mellifera . The gene was isolated from a brain-specific cDNA library. It encodes a protein most closely related to octopamine receptors from Drosophila melanogaster and Lymnea stagnalis . Signalling properties of the cloned receptor were studied in transiently transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. Nanomolar to micromolar concentrations of octopamine induced oscillatory increases in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration. In contrast to octopamine, tyramine only elicited Ca2+ responses at micromolar concentrations. The gene is abundantly expressed in many somata of the honeybee brain, suggesting that this octopamine receptor is involved in the processing of sensory inputs, antennal motor outputs and higher-order brain functions. KW - Biogenic amine KW - Ca2+ KW - cyclic AMP KW - G protein-coupled receptor KW - insect Y1 - 2003 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-44293 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Blenau, Wolfgang A1 - Baumann, Arnd T1 - Aminergic signal transduction in invertebrates : focus on tyramine and octopamine receptors N2 - Electro-chemical signal transduction is the basis of communication between n eurons and their target cells. An important group of neuroactive substances that are released by action potentials from neurons are the biogenic amines. These a re small organic molecules that bind to specific receptors located in the target cell membrane. Once activated these receptors cause changes in the intracellula r concentration of second messengers, i.e. cyclic nucleotides, phosphoinositides , or Ca2+, leading to slow but long-lasting cellular responses. Biochemical, pha rmacological, physiological, and molecular biological approaches have unequivoca lly shown that biogenic amines are important regulators of cellular function in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In this review, we will concentrate on the p roperties of two biogenic amines and their receptors that were originally identi fied in invertebrates: tyramine and octopamine.  T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - paper 107 Y1 - 2003 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-44271 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blenau, Wolfgang A1 - Baumann, Arnd T1 - Molecular and pharmacological properties of insect biogenic amine receptors : lessons from Drosophila melanogaster and Apis mellifera Y1 - 2001 SN - 0739-4462 ER -