Neuroendocrine and cytolytic peptides in frog skin: what do they all mean?

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Neuroendocrine and cytolytic peptides in frog skin: what do they all mean? Michael J. Conlon1* 1 United Arab Emirates University, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates Cationic peptides with the propensity to adopt an amphipathic α-helical conformation in a membrane-mimetic environment are synthesized in the skins of many species of anurans (frogs and toads). These peptides frequently display potent cytolytic activities against a range of pathogenic bacteria and fungi consistent with the hypothesis that they play a role in the host’s system of innate immunity. Similarly, myotropic peptides in skin, such as tachykinins and bradykinins, are postulated to play a role in defending the animal against ingestion by predators. However, the importance of the peptides in the survival strategy of the animal is not clearly understood. The distribution of antimicrobial and neuroendocrine peptides among the different frog families is sporadic and many well-studied species in several families do not appear to synthesize these peptides. This suggests that production of dermal cytolytic and neuroendocrine peptides may offer some advantage to anurans in terms of natural selection but their precise biological function may need to be re-evaluated. Other biological activities demonstrated or suggested for these dermal peptides include regulation of apoptosis, particularly during metamorphosis, stimulation of chemotaxis of neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages, enhancement of secretory phospholipase A2 activity, stimulation of insulin release from clonal ï€ β-cells, inhibition of neuronal nitric oxide synthase, regulation of ion- and water transport across the skin, and modification of male reproductive behaviour. Conference: 3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience , Alexandria, Egypt, 13 Dec - 16 Dec, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Symposium 12 – Comparative Neuroendocrinology: novel neurochemical systems Citation: Conlon MJ (2009). Neuroendocrine and cytolytic peptides in frog skin: what do they all mean?. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience . doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.01.2009.16.041 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Nov 2009; Published Online: 19 Nov 2009. * Correspondence: Michael J Conlon, United Arab Emirates University, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates, jmconlon1@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Michael J Conlon Google Michael J Conlon Google Scholar Michael J Conlon PubMed Michael J Conlon Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.