Proctolin
Proctolin is a neuropeptide present in insects and crustaceans. It was first found in ''Periplaneta americana'', a species of cockroach in 1975. Proctolin was extracted from 125,000 cockroaches and the Edman degradation was carried out on the sample to determine the amino acid sequence, which is Arg-Tyr-Leu-Pro-Thr. Proctolin was the first insect neuropeptide to be sequenced. Starratt and Brown identified it as a visceral muscle neurotransmitter. However, it now appears that there are many more functions of proctolin, and it is present in many more species. Localisation Proctolin is found in the following insect orders: * Orthoptera * Hemiptera * Diptera * Coleoptera Proctolin may also be present in molluscs, annelids, decapod crustaceans, and possibly even some mammals. Structure The proctolin structure is very highly conserved between species. Proctolin analogs have been synthesised in order to find out more about the structure of the molecule. It was found that eac ...
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