Kinin Peptide Receptors that Influence Mosquito Diuresis

这个项目是基础生物学研究，对改善人类状况有实际意义。组成动物的细胞必须相互沟通，协调它们的行动，使个体作为一个有机体发挥作用。细胞之间有一种基本的分子语言来“交谈”。这种语言的“单词和句子”是不同的分子，最常用的分子之一是肽。这些被称为蛋白质的小分子片段是基因表达的直接产物。细胞用来听到分子语言的“耳朵”被称为受体。海斯博士没有把人类或脊椎动物作为研究对象，而是转向了一种从一开始就困扰着人类的害虫——蚊子。雌蚊子必须消耗相当于其体重2.5倍的血液才能获得产卵所需的蛋白质。在喂食过程中，她必须迅速排出多余的盐和水，而这些盐和水不是产卵所需要的。大脑、神经系统、“嗉囊”、“胃”、“肾”、“肠”和直肠必须“交谈”和协调，以保持动物的生存并应对这一挑战。使用的一些分子信使肽允许这些组织的细胞彼此“交谈”。这些肽的类似物将用于了解携带这些信息的分子的部分和形状。这种理解将用于设计和制造分子工具来特异性标记受体。这种被称为光亲和标签的分子工具也将被用于分离编码受体蛋白的基因，以确定其结构。了解“信息”（即肽）和“耳朵”（即受体）的重要结构对于破解细胞间通信的通用密码至关重要。了解这种语言的一般方面已经为人类和兽药的设计提供了基础，以及未来有效的、对环境安全的、不伤害人类的杀虫剂。＊＊＊

9419990 Hayes This project is basic biological research has practical implications for improving the human condition. The cells that compose an animal must communicate with each other to coordinate their actions to make the individual functional as an organism. There is a fundamental molecular language that exists for cells to "talk" with one another. The "words and sentences" of that language are different molecules and one of the most often used types of molecules are the peptides. These are small fragments of molecules called proteins that are the direct products of gene expression. The "ears" that cells have to hear the molecular language are called receptors. Rather than using human or vertebrate subjects as a model for our research, Dr. Hayes has turned to a pest that plagues humans from their beginning, the mosquito. The female mosquito must consume two-and-a-half times her body weight in blood to have the protein to make eggs. During this feeding, she must rapidly eliminate the massive weight of the excess salt and water not needed for making eggs. The brain, the nervous system, the "crop", the "stomach", the "kidneys", the "intestines", and the rectum must "talk" and coordinate to keep the animal alive and deal with this challenge. Some of the molecular messenger peptides that are used allow the cells of these tissues to "talk" with one another. Analogs of these peptides will be used to understand the parts and shapes of the molecules that carry these messages. This understanding will be used to design and make molecular tools to specifically tag the receptors. The molecular tools, called photoaffinity labels, will also be used to isolate genes that code for the receptor proteins for structure determination. Knowing the important structures for the "message" (i.e. the peptide) and the "ears" (i.e. the receptor) are critical to break the general code for communication between cells. Understanding the general aspects of the language is already providing a foundation f or the design of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, plus future, effective, environmentally safe pesticides that do not harm human beings. ***