Corazonin (Crz) is a neuropeptide that widely distributed in insects and crustaceans. The Crz is proposed to have pleiotropic functions in insects, but its physiological roles in crustaceans are poorly understood. In the present study, Crz and its putative receptor (CrzR) were identified from the swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus, and their interaction was validated using the Dual-Luciferase reporter assay system. Tissue distribution analysis showed the PtCrz was mainly derived from center nerve system, while its receptor was highly expressed in Y-organ, the main site for ecdysteroids synthesis. Exposure of YO to synthetic Crz and CrzR dsRNA respectively led to the transcriptional changes of two ecdysteroidogenesis genes, further indicating a putative role of Crz signaling on ecdysteroids synthesis. During the ovarian development, the mRNA levels of PtCrz and PtCrzR increased significantly in vitellogenic stages, suggesting a potential role of Crz signaling in vitellogenesis. The hypothesis was further strengthened by in vitro experiments that the expression of vitellogenin (Vg), Vg receptor (VgR), cyclinB, and Cdc2 in ovary explants could be induced by synthetic Crz, whereas reduced by CrzR dsRNA. In addition, since 20-hydroxyecdysone also showed a stimulating effect on Vg expression, an indirect regulation of Crz signaling on ovarian development via ecdysteroids might also exist.

Corazonin (Crz) 是一种广泛分布于昆虫和甲壳类动物中的神经肽。Crz 被认为在昆虫中具有多效性功能，但对其在甲壳类动物中的生理作用知之甚少。在目前的研究中，铬及其推定的受体（铬锌矿) 是从游泳蟹中识别出来的，三疣梭子蟹，并使用双荧光素酶报告基因分析系统验证了它们的相互作用。组织分布分析表明铂铬主要来源于中枢神经系统，而其受体在蜕皮激素合成的主要部位Y器官中高度表达。YO 暴露于合成的 Crz 和 CrzR dsRNA 分别导致两个蜕皮激素生成基因的转录变化，进一步表明 Crz 信号传导对蜕皮激素合成的推定作用。在卵巢发育过程中，铂铬和铂铬锆在卵黄生成阶段显着增加，表明 Crz 信号在卵黄生成中的潜在作用。该假设进一步得到加强体外实验表明卵黄原素(Vg),Vg受体(VgR),细胞周期蛋白B， 和CDC2在卵巢外植体中，合成 Crz 可以诱导，而 CrzR dsRNA 可以减少。此外，由于 20-羟基蜕皮激素对Vg表达，Crz信号对卵巢发育的间接调节通过蜕皮激素也可能存在。