Journal article
CYP18A1, a key enzyme of Drosophila steroid hormone inactivation, is essential for metamorphosis
E Guittard, C Blais, A Maria, JP Parvy, S Pasricha, C Lumb, R Lafont, PJ Daborn, C Dauphin-Villemant
Developmental Biology | Published : 2011
Abstract
Ecdysteroids are steroid hormones, which coordinate major developmental transitions in insects. Both the rises and falls in circulating levels of active hormones are important for coordinating molting and metamorphosis, making both ecdysteroid biosynthesis and inactivation of physiological relevance. We demonstrate that Drosophila melanogaster Cyp18a1 encodes a cytochrome P450 enzyme (CYP) with 26-hydroxylase activity, a prominent step in ecdysteroid catabolism. A clear ortholog of Cyp18a1 exists in most insects and crustaceans. When Cyp18a1 is transfected in Drosophila S2 cells, extensive conversion of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) into 20-hydroxyecdysonoic acid is observed. This is a multi-step..
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Awarded by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Funding Acknowledgements
We are grateful to C. Bijakowski for her valuable contribution at the start of this work. The Australian Drosophila Research facility is acknowledged for providing Drosophila services and A. Hafdi and G. Raymant for Drosophila care. We thank Drs. Laurence Dinan and Virginie Orgogozo for critical reading of the manuscript. EG, CB, AM, JPP, RL and CDV are supported by the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. PJD is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Australian Research Fellowship (project number DP0772003).