Endocrine System and Function of Hormones

 Hormone chemical produced within an organism’s body and transported, generally in body fluids,
away from their point of synthesis to sites where they influence a remarkable variety of physiological
processes, even though present in extremely small quantities.
 Insect hormones have been studied in detail in only a handful of species but similar patterns of
production and function are likely to apply to all insects.
 Insects, like vertebrates, possess both epithelial endocrine gelands (corpora allata and molt glands,
derived during embryogenesis from groups of ectodermal cells in the region of the maxillary pouches)
and glandular nerve cells (neurosecretory cells), which are found in all ganglia of the central nervous
system and in parts of the visceral nervous system. Their axons terminate in storage and release sites
(neurohoemal organs) or run directly to their target organ.
 In addition, the gonads and some other structures of certain species produce hormones


Endocrine System

Endocrine centers

 The hormones of the insect body are produced by neuronal, neuro-glandular, or glandular centers
 Hormonal production by some organs, such as the ovaries is secondary to their main function, but
several tissues and organs are specialized for an endocrine role

Neurosecretory cells

 Neurosecretory cells (also called neuroendocrine cells) are modified neurons found throughout the
nervous system (within the CNS, peripheral nervous system, and the stomodeal nervous system), but
they occur in major groups in the brain
 These cells produce most of the known insect hormones, the notable exceptions being the
production by non-neural tissues of ecdysteroids and juvenile hormones
 However, the synthesis and release of the juvenile hormones are regulated by neurohormones from
neurosecretory cells
 The best-studied neurosecretory cells are the median neurosecretory cells (mNSC) of the
protocerebrum. They occur in two groups, one on each side of the midline, and their axons (which
form NCC I) pass down through the brain, crossing over en route, and normally terminate in a pair of
neurohemal organs, the corpora cardiac where neurosecretion is stored.
 In some species (ex: Musca domestica), some neurosecretory axons do not terminate in the corpora
cardiac but pass through them to the corpora allata; in hemiptera-Heteroptera, the axons bypass the
corpora cardiac, instead, terminate in the adjacent aorta wall; In aphids, some neurosecretory axons
transport their product directly to the target organ.
 Axons of the mNSC which produce bursicon terminate in the fused thoracoabdominal ganglion of
higher Diptera and in the last abdominal ganglion of cockroaches and locusts.

Corpora Cardiaca
 Corpora cardiac (singular: corpus cardiacum) are a pair of neuroglandular bodies located on either
side of the aorta and behind the brain.
 Intrinsic products of the corpora cardiac are released when the neurosecretory cell membranes are
depolarized
 The NCC I also contain ordinary neurons that innervate the intrinsic cells of the corpora cardiac
causing them to release their product
 Corpora cardiac arise as invaginations of the foregut during embryogenesis at the same time as the
stomatogastric nervous system and are, in fact modified nerve ganglia.
 As well as producing their own hormones, they store and release neurohormones, including
prothoracicotropic hormon (PTTH, formerly called brain hormone or ecdysiotropin), originating from
the neurosecretory cells of the brain.
 PTTH stimulates the secretory activity of the prothoracic glands
 The prothoracic glands are diffuse, paired glands generally located in the thorax or the back of the
head (interwoven among the tracheae, fat body, muscles, and connective tissue of the head and
anterior thorax) . In cyclorrhapous Diptera, they are part of the ring gland, which also contains the
corpora cardiaca and corpora allata. The prothoracic glands secrete an ecdysteroid, usually ecdysone
(molting hormone), which after hydroxylation, elicits the molting process of the epidermis.
 Except in primitive apterygotes, solitary locusts and worker and soldie termites, the glands are found
only in juvenile insects and degenerate shortly after the molt to the adult. The molt glands show
distinct cycles of activity correlated with new cuticle formation and ecdysis.
 Their product, α-ecdysone, is a prohormone that when activated initiates several important event in
this regard.
 Ecdysones are steroids having the same carbon skeleton as cholesterol which is almost certainly the
natural precursor in insects.
 Another products of mNSC include allatotropic and allatostatic hormones, whose primary function is
to regulate the activity of the corpora allata; diuretic hormones, which affects osmoregulation;
ovarian ecdysiotropic hormone OEH, formerly egg development neurosecretory hormones; ovulation-
oviposition-inducing hormone; testis ecdysiotropin (TE).
 Neurosecretion from the mNSC also affect behavior, though in many cases this is certainly an indirect
action, and is important in protein synthesis
 Eclosion Hormone (EH) important in ecdysis, is produced by neurosecretory in the tritocerebrum
 Hyperglemic and adipokinetic hormones produced by intrinsic cells of the corpora cardiac;
important in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and hormone that stimulate heartbeat rate, gut
peristalsis, and writhing movements of Malpighian tubules.
 Neurocsecretion from the subesophageal ganglion in cockroaches is synthesized and released
regularlu and controls the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity.
 In female moths, pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) is produced in three
groups of neurosecretory cells in the subesophageal ganglion (released via the corpora cardiac)
 In female pupae of Bombys, two large neurosecretory cells in the subesophageal ganglion produce a
diapause hormone which promotes the development of eggs that enter diapause
 In Rhodnius, diuretic hormone is produced not by the cerebral neurosecretory cells but by the
hindmost group of neurosecretory cells in the fused ganglion of the thoracic and first abdominal
segments.
 All neurosecretory factors characterized to date are peptids (glycosylated)

Corpora Allata
 The corpora allata are small, discrete, paired glandular bodies derived from the epithelium and
located on either side of the foregut
 In some insect, they fuse to form a single gland.
 Their function is to secrete juvenile hormone (JH), which has regulatory roles in both metamorphosis
(metamorphosis-inhibiting hormone); neotenin, with reference to its function in juvenile insects and
reproduction (gonadotropic hormone to indicate its function in adult.
 In Lepidoptera, the corpora allata also store and release PTTH
 The corpora allata also store and release PTTH

Other Endocrine Structures

 Oenocytes active early in the molt cycle and again at the onset of sexual maturity in adult females,
show ultrastructural similarities with steroid-producing cells in vertebrates led to suggestion that
these cells may be a site for ecdysone synthesis. However, their primary roles appear to be synthesis
of certain cuticular lipids and the lipoprotein layer of the epicuticle
 In contrast to those of vertebrates, the gonads of insects don’t produce sex hormones that influence
the development of secondary sexual characters, except in firefly Lampyris noctiluca (Coleoptera)
where an androgenic hormone produced by the testes induces development of male sexual
characters. Thus, implantation of these organs into a female larva causes sex reversal. Ovarian tissue
however, does not produce a hormone for induction of femaleness
 Ovaries of many insects produce hormones that affect reproductive development. Ex: ovaries of
the house fly Musca domestica, and other Diptera produce an oostatic hormone that regulate the
pattern of egg maturation by inhibiting the release of OEH from the mNSC. In the absence of OEH,
ovarian ecdysone release doesn’t occur. After oviposition, the ovaries no longer produce hormone,
and a new cycle of egg maturation begins.
 In contrast, the antigonadotropin produced by the abdominal perisympathetic neurosecretory organs
in the bug Rhodnius prolixus does not act on other endocrine centers. Rather, it appears to act at the
level of the follicle cells, blocking the action of juvenile hormone

Hormones
 Three hormones or hormone types are integral to the growth and reproductive functions in insects.
These are ecdysteroids, juvenile hormones, neurohormones (neuropeptides)
 Ecdysteroids general term applied to any steroid with molt-promoting activity. All ecdysteroids are
derived from sterols (cholesterol, which cannot be synthesize and must obtain from their diet).
Ecdysteroids occur in all insects and form a large group of compounds, of which ecdysone and 20-
hydroxyecdysone are the most common members. Ecdysone (α-ecdysone) is released from the
prothoracic glands into the hemolymph and usually is converted to the more active hormone 20-
hydroxyecdysone in several peripheral tissues. 20-hydroxyecdysone (ecdysterone or β-ecdysone) is
the most widespread and physiocogically important ecdysteroids in insects.
 Ecdysteroids has function in eliciting molting, and also involved in ovarian maturation (which are
produced by the ovary of the adult female insects) or be package in the eggs to be metabolized
during formation of embryonic cuticle.
Pertanyaan
1. Neurosecretory cells, dll itu pembagian apa? (nelly) dijawab nova
2. Proses pertahanan tubuh pada serangga
3. Proses sirkulasi

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