Study on the physiological function of bombyxin

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1. We produced many kinds of mouse monoclonal antibodies against synthetic bombyxin-II and developed a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) for bombyxin. This assay method is superior to the conventional radioimmunoassay in sensitivity, simplicity, safety and time-saving.2. Using TR-FIA,we examined the changes in bombyxin titer in hemolymph during larva-pupa-adult development of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori. The titer was low in the larval stage, while high in the early and middle pupal stages. A steep rise in the titer was observed immediately after eclosion only in males. Hemolymph lipid also increased after eclosion only in males, suggesting a possibility that bombyxin is involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism.3. We investigated the physiological function of bombyxin in Bombyx larvae and obtained the following results.1) Bombyxin has a hypotrehalosemic activity.2) Bombyxin increases the trehalase activity in the midgut and integument (including muscles).3) Bombyxin has no effect on trehalose synthase activity in the fat body.4) Bombyxin decreases glycogen content in the fat body.These results suggested that bombyxin regulates sugar and lipid metabolism and that bombyxin plays an important role (s) in the process of metamorphosis.