Neuropeptides are chemical messengers made up of small chains of amino acids . When they bind to receptors, they cause nerve activity. They also act on other tissues like the gut , muscles , and heart . There are over a hundred different types in our bodies.
Peptides are ancient signalling systems that are in almost all animals on Earth (sponges are the exception).[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6]
Neuropeptide signalling may predate the development of nervous tissues or neurotransmitters .[ 7] [ 8] molecules in the nervous system.
References
↑ Schoofs L, De Loof A, Van Hiel MB (January 2017). "Neuropeptides as regulators of behavior in insects" . Annual Review of Entomology . 62 : 35–52. doi :10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-035500 . PMID 27813667 . ↑ Jékely G (March 2021). "The chemical brain hypothesis for the origin of nervous systems" . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences . 376 (1821): 20190761. doi :10.1098/rstb.2019.0761 . PMC 7935135 PMID 33550946 . ↑ Sachkova MY, Nordmann EL, Soto-Àngel JJ, Meeda Y, Górski B, Naumann B, et al. (December 2021). "Neuropeptide repertoire and 3D anatomy of the ctenophore nervous system" . Current Biology . 31 (23): 5274–5285.e6. doi :10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.005 PMID 34587474 . S2CID 238210404 . ↑ Takahashi T, Takeda N (January 2015). "Insight into the molecular and functional diversity of cnidarian neuropeptides" . International Journal of Molecular Sciences . 16 (2): 2610–2625. doi :10.3390/ijms16022610 PMC 4346854 PMID 25625515 . ↑ Mirabeau O, Joly JS (May 2013). "Molecular evolution of peptidergic signaling systems in bilaterians" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 110 (22): E2028–E2037. Bibcode :2013PNAS..110E2028M . doi :10.1073/pnas.1219956110 PMC 3670399 PMID 23671109 . ↑ Elphick MR, Mirabeau O, Larhammar D (February 2018). "Evolution of neuropeptide signalling systems" . The Journal of Experimental Biology . 221 (Pt 3): jeb151092. doi :10.1242/jeb.151092 . PMC 5818035 PMID 29440283 . ↑ Yañez-Guerra LA, Thiel D, Jékely G (April 2022). "Premetazoan origin of neuropeptide signaling" . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 39 (4): msac051. doi :10.1093/molbev/msac051 . PMC 9004410 PMID 35277960 . ↑ Varoqueaux F, Williams EA, Grandemange S, Truscello L, Kamm K, Schierwater B, et al. (November 2018). "High cell diversity and complex peptidergic signaling underlie placozoan behavior" . Current Biology . 28 (21): 3495–3501.e2. doi :10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.067 PMID 30344118 . S2CID 53044824 .
