Physiology of invertebrate oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptides
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New findings: What is the topic of this review? This article describes the discovery and function of invertebrate oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptides. What advances does it highlight? The novel discovery of oxytocin‐like peptides in arthropods is described. An up‐to date overview is gven of the functional role (physiology and behaviour) of oxytocin and vasopressin signalling. The application of natural peptides for drug development is discussed. Neuropeptides and regulatory peptide hormones control many developmental, physiological and behavioural processes in animals, including humans. The nonapeptides oxytocin and arginine vasopressin are produced and released by the pituitary gland and have actions on many organs and tissues. Receptive cells possess particular receptors to which the peptides bind as ligands, leading to activation of G‐protein‐coupled receptors, hence cellular responses. In humans and other mammalian species, oxytocin and vasopressin mediate a range of peripheral and central physiological functions that are important for osmoregulation, reproduction, complex social behaviours, memory and learning. The origin of the oxytocin/vasopressin signalling system is thought to date back more than 600 million years. All vertebrate oxytocin‐ and vasopressin‐like peptides have presumably evolved from the ancestral nonapeptide vasotocin by gene duplication and today are present in vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Oxytocin‐ and vasopressin‐like peptides have been identified in several invertebrate species, including molluscs, annelids, nematodes and arthropods. Members of this peptide family share high sequence similarity, and it is possible that they are functionally related across the entire animal kingdom. However, it is evident that not all animals express oxytocin/vasopressin neuropeptides and that there is little information available about the biology and physiology of this signalling system of invertebrates and, in particular, of insects, which represent more than half of all known living organisms. This report describes the discovery of novel oxytocin‐ and vasopressin‐like peptides in arthropods and summarizes the status quo of the functional relevance of this neuropeptide signalling system in invertebrates, which will have beneficial implications for the design of selective and potent ligands to human oxytocin and vasopressin receptors.
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A host of invertebrate species express one OT/AVP-like ligand, suggesting a very early evolutionary origin (~600 million years ago) for these signaling molecules.
“A host of invertebrate species express one OT/AVP-like ligand, suggesting a very early evolutionary origin (~600 million years ago; Mya) for these signaling molecules”
From Neuropeptide diversity and the regulation of social behavior in New World primates (2016) · cites this paper as Gruber, 2014
The peptide structure and neuronal system of oxytocin and its homologs remained relatively conserved across species over 600 million years, but its receptor expression is evolutionarily diverse and varies with socio-behavioral diversity.
“The peptide structure and the neuronal system of oxytocin along with its homologs remained relatively conserved across species over 600 million years, but its receptor expression is evolutionarily diverse and varies in relation to socio-behavioral diversity.”
From A precision medicine approach to oxytocin trials (2017) · cites this paper as Gruber 2014
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- Authors
- Gruber, C. W.
- Affiliations
- Medical University of Vienna (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Gruber, Christian W.
- ORCID
- Gruber, Christian W.
- Venue
- Experimental Physiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-09-24
- Volume
- 99
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 55-61
- ISSN
- 0958-0670 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-445X
- PMC
- PMC3883647
- OpenAlex
- W1942007963
- Cited by
- 110
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 1.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Experimental Physiology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Austrian Science Fund (P 22889)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Keywords
- oxytocin, vasopressin, neuropeptides, invertebrate neuropeptides, arthropods, insect neuropeptides, gene duplication, G protein-coupled receptors, neuropeptide receptors, osmoregulation, reproduction, social behavior, drug development, Mollusca, nematodes, Annelida
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Humans, Invertebrates, Neuropeptides, Oxytocin, Vasopressins
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