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In Vivo Calcium Imaging in C. elegans Body Wall Muscles
Published on: October 20, 2019
D-Glutamic acid-induced muscle contraction in the silkworm, Bombyx mori
Kazuhisa Sekimizu1, Jorge Larranaga, Hiroshi Hamamoto
1Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-1 Hongo 7-chome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033. sekimizu@mol.f.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
Agonists for muscle contraction in silkworms were screened by injecting test solutions into the hemolymph of decapitated silkworm larvae. Kainic acid, a glutamate receptor agonist, and D-glutamic acid induced muscle contractions, and D-aspartic acid was partially effective, whereas NMDA and AMPA, representative mammalian glutamate receptor agonists, did not induce contraction. L-Glutamic acid inhibited the kainic acid or D-glutamic acid-induced contraction. Amino acid analysis revealed that 3% of the total glutamic acid in the silkworm hemolymph is D-glutamic acid. These results suggest that d-glutamic acid acts physiologically as an agonist for muscle contraction in silkworms, and that L-glutamic acid functions as an inhibitor.
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