Abstract
The widespread distribution of insects over many ecological niches owes much to evolution of multiple mechanisms to defend against environmental stress, especially because their ectothermic nature and small body size render them particularly susceptible to extremes in temperature and water availability. In this review, we will summarize the latest information describing a single, multifunctional cytokine family that is deployed by six orders of insect species to combat a diverse variety of environmental stresses. The originating member of this peptide family was identified in Mythimna (formerly called Pseudaletia) separata armyworm; the cytokine was named growth-blocking peptide (GBP), reflecting its actions in combating parasitic invasion. The peptide’s name has been retained, though the list of its regulatory activities has greatly expanded. All members of this family are small peptides, 19–25 amino acid residues, whose major source is fat body. They are now known to regulate embryonic morphogenesis, larval growth rates, feeding activities, immune responses, nutrition, and aging. In this review, we will describe recent developments in our understanding of the mechanisms of action of the GBP family, but we will also highlight remaining gaps in our knowledge.
Introdution
Growth-blocking peptide (GBP) was initially found as a peptidergic factor which blocks JH esterase activation in the hemolymph of early last instar larvae of host Mythimna (formerly called Pseudaletia) separata armyworm upon infection by the parasitic wasp Cotesia kariyai (). GBP-induced suppression of hemolymph JH esterase is a protective measure that delays larval growth and development (). Although the mechanism by which M. separata (Ms) GBP suppresses hemolymph JH esterase activation is still unknown, this initial observation led us to focus on its hormone-like function (). Further characterization of MsGBP signaling elucidated that it elevates dopamine concentrations in the hemolymph through enhanced expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and DOPA decarboxylase in the integument and the brain (, ). This up-regulation of gene expression was subsequently attributed to MsGBP-induced activation of phospholipase C (PLC), release of inositol triphosphate (IP3), and the elevation of cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentrations (; ). Although the relationship between dopamine elevation and JH esterase repression has not been yet clarified, both events have negative impact on the growth rates of insect larvae ().
In the years since the discovery of MsGBP, over 10 GBP orthologous peptides have been found in several lepidopteran species (, ). They all consist of 23–25 amino acids, and they share more than 70% sequence identity, yet they show diverse functions: paralysis induction, plasmatocyte spreading, and cardioacceleration. However, to date, the only known receptor for a GBP is that identified in Drosophila-Mthl10 (see below). MsGBP itself was demonstrated to have this multifunctionality (). Subsequent studies established further functions of the GBP family such as cell growth activator, early morphogenetic mediator, and humoral immune mediator (; , ). Nevertheless, as is common practice, this cytokine family is still named after its originating function as a growth-blocking peptide ().
Nonlepidopteran GBP
Many GBP orthologous peptides had been reported in Lepidoptera, but it was not until 2012 that the first nonlepidopteran GBP was discovered (). To identify their primary structures, hemolymph peptides that induce cell growth and plasmatocyte spreading activities were purified from Tenebrionid and bluebottle fly larvae (; ). The functional orthologs identified by these studies comprised 19–24 amino acids, and subsequent homology searches expanded the presence of GBP-like peptides to five orders. Comparisons of these peptides enabled us to extract the consensus motif C-x(2)-G-x(4,6)-G-x(1,2)-C-[KR] (). More recently, this motif has been found in Locusta migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria GBPs (). Here, we describe the phylogenetic relationship derived from precursor protein sequences of all known members of the GBP family and GBP orthologs which were identified by homology searches (Figure 1). It is interesting that the GBP motif shares a significant similarity with the portion of the mammalian epidermal growth factor (EGF) motif (Figure 2) that forms the C-terminal region, in which Arg41 and Leu47 have been reported to be crucial for binding to the EGF receptor (). NMR analysis demonstrated that the GBP motif core structure (residues 7–22) is predicted to show an EGF-like fold stabilized by a disulfide bond and a short ß-hairpin turn (). This characteristic tertiary structure has been reported to be common in lepidopteran GBP orthologs which had been previously referred as to “ENF-peptide” that was named after the consensus N-terminal amino acid sequence (; ).
Figure 1
Figure 2

A motif found in the active peptide regions of GBP/GBP-like genes and alignment of mammalian EGF peptide family.
Although several other insect cytokines, such as Spätzle (
Drosophila GBP
Following on from the identification of DmGBP, three major developments have been made concerning its functions and signaling mechanisms as follows. First, DmGBP was demonstrated to elevate anti-microbial peptide (AMP) expression independently of the canonical receptors that at that time were known to be associated with the inflammatory pathways mediated by Toll- and IMD-dependent pathways (
Second, it was demonstrated that DmGBP activates an IP/Ca2+ signaling cascade that dictates the timing and the intensity of the separate cellular and humoral components of the innate immune response which, moreover, are reciprocally regulated (
Third, by screening a dsRNA library that targets genes encoding membrane proteins, the DmGBP receptor has been determined to be the G-protein-coupled receptor Methuselah-like 10 (Mthl10) (
It was recently reported that DmGBP regulates the release of insulin-like peptides (ILPs) from the brain depending on nutrient levels in the hemolymph through target of rapamycin (TOR) in Drosophila (
GBP Signaling and its Regulation
In mammals, the cytokine TNF triggers the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1ß and IL-6 (
Another mode of GBP signaling regulation is the control of its hemolymph concentrations by GBP-binding protein (GBP-BP) that functions as a scavenger of MsGBP in the armyworm (
Future Investigations of GBP Signaling
There remain many important questions regarding GBP multifunctionality and their regulation. For example, it has been demonstrated that GBP serves its immunological and metabolic functions as described above. Furthermore, GBP functions as a cell growth factor (
When DmGBP (CG15917) was first identified, four other Drosophila genes encoding the proGBP-like peptide were also found: CG11395, CG12517, CG14069, and CG17244. Koyama and Mirth recently found that the CG11397 gene product regulated the release of ILPs from the brain in the similar manner of GBP (CG15917) and they named CG15917 and CG11397 for GBP1 and GBP2, respectively (
Conclusions
Although the multiple functionalities of MsGBP and DmGBP have been clearly demonstrated, it remains unclear to what extent the GBP-signaling pathways and functionalities are conserved in other insects. For example, it is not yet known if Mthl10 orthologous gene occurs in the armyworm. Moreover, SRP and GBP-BP have been examined only in the armyworm. It will be important to identify all these essential components for GBP-signaling function and regulation in broad insect species, so as to identify species-, development-, and stage-specific expression of such components. Elucidating commonality and difference of such GBP-associated factors in insects may hint at the conservation of some of these important homeostatic mechanisms in mammals.
Statements
Author contributions
All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.
Funding
This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (SS) and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (Grant number: 16H0259) from JSPS (YH).
Acknowledgments
We appreciate the contribution of Dr. Hitoshi Matsumoto (Saga University) in drawing the phylogenetic tree.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
cytokine, growth-blocking peptide (GBP), stress-responsive peptide (SRP), Mthl10, hormesis
Citation
Shears SB and Hayakawa Y (2019) Functional Multiplicity of an Insect Cytokine Family Assists Defense Against Environmental Stress. Front. Physiol. 10:222. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00222
Received
24 August 2018
Accepted
21 February 2019
Published
22 March 2019
Volume
10 - 2019
Edited by
Sylvia Anton, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France
Reviewed by
Christian Wegener, Universität Würzburg, Germany; Davide Malagoli, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
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© 2019 Shears and Hayakawa.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Stephen B. Shears, shears@niehs.nih.govYoichi Hayakawa, hayakayo@cc.saga-u.ac.jp
This article was submitted to Invertebrate Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Physiology
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