Jan Veenstra

Sep 1, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Jan Veenstra

AbstractNeuroparsin is a common insect neurohormone produced in large neuroendocrine cells in the brain and is important in mosquito reproduction. Although it is present in many flies including many Drosophila species, it was lost from D. melanogaster and a few closely related species. Three different lines of transgenic D.

Aug 23, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Jan Veenstra

AbstractBackground. Neuropeptides play important roles in insects, but in many cases their functions remain obscure. Comparative neuropeptidome analyses may provide clues to what these functions might be. Praying mantises are predators and close relatives of cockroaches that are scavengers. Cockroach neuropeptidomes are well established, but little is known about mantis neuropeptides. The recently published genome assembly of the praying mantis Tenodera sinensis makes it possble to change that.

Jun 18, 2023 | mdpi.com | Jan Veenstra |J. M. A

This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon. Open AccessArticleby INCIA UMR 5287 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, 33600 Pessac, FranceInt. J. Mol. Sci.

May 23, 2023 | nature.com | Chen Cheng |Peng Zhao |Norbert Perrimon |Jan Veenstra |Wei Song |Kai Tan | +5 more

Severe sleep deprivation (SD) has been highly associated with systemic energy wasting, such as lipid loss and glycogen depletion. Despite immune dysregulation and neurotoxicity observed in SD animals, whether and how the gut-secreted hormones participate in SD-induced disruption of energy homeostasis remains largely unknown. Using Drosophila as a conserved model organism, we characterize that production of intestinal Allatostatin A (AstA), a major gut-peptide hormone, is robustly increased in adult flies bearing severe SD. Interestingly, the removal of AstA production in the gut using specific drivers significantly improves lipid loss and glycogen depletion in SD flies without affecting sleep homeostasis. We reveal the molecular mechanisms whereby gut AstA promotes the release of an adipokinetic hormone (Akh), an insulin counter-regulatory hormone functionally equivalent to mammalian glucagon, to mobilize systemic energy reserves by remotely targeting its receptor AstA-R2 in Akh-producing cells. Similar regulation of glucagon secretion and energy wasting by AstA/galanin is also observed in SD mice. Further, integrating single-cell RNA sequencing and genetic validation, we uncover that severe SD results in ROS accumulation in the gut to augment AstA production via TrpA1. Altogether, our results demonstrate the essential roles of the gut-peptide hormone AstA in mediating SD-associated energy wasting.

Feb 5, 2023 | biorxiv.org | Jan Veenstra

New Results doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.05.527168 AbstractBackground. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and other Insulin-like peptides (ilps) are important hormones regulating growth and development in animals. Whereas most animals have a single female and male adult phenotype, in some insect species the same genome may lead to different final forms. Perhaps the best known example is the honeybee where females can either develop into queens or workers.