Brown, M.R., Crim, J.W., Arata, R.C., Cai, H.N., Chun, C., Shen, P. (1999). Identification of a Drosophila brain-gut peptide related to the neuropeptide Y family.  Peptides 20(9): 1035--1042.

FBrf0111334

Research paper

A neuropeptide F (NPF) was isolated from the fruit fly, Drosophila mellanogaster, based on a radioimmunoassay for a gut peptide from the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea. A partial sequence was obtained from the fly peptide, and a genomic sequence coding for NPF was cloned after inverse polymerase chain reaction and shown to exist as a single genomic copy. The encoded, putative prepropeptide can be processed into an amidated NPF with 36 residues that is related to invertebrate NPF's and the neuropeptide Y family of vertebrates. In situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry showed that Drosophila NPF was expressed in the brain and midgut of fly larvae and adults.