Molecular cloning of crustacean red pigment concentrating hormone precursor

A cDNA encoding the precursor of the red pigment concentrating hormone (RPCH) of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas, was isolated and sequenced. The predicted preprohormone sequence consists of a putative 25 amino acid signal peptide, the eight amino acid RPCH sequence followed by a Gly as amide donor, a dibasic processing site and a 74 residue peptide of unknown function, referred to as RPCH-precursor-related peptide (RPRP). In in situ hybridisation experiments, the RPCH gene transcript could be localised in two clusters of neurons in the medulla terminalis of the eyestalk.