PBAN selective antagonists: inhibition of PBAN induced cuticular melanization and sex pheromone biosynthesis in moths

A D-Phe scan (sequential D-Phe replacement) library of linear peptides, synthesized on the basis of a slightly modified active sequence of PBAN (YFSPRL-amide) was employed to detect potential inhibitors of cuticular melanization in Spodoptera littoralis larvae and to compare their stimulatory and inhibitory melanization activity with their pheromonotropic agonistic and antagonistic activities. A quantitative melanotropic assay was used to monitor the extent of cuticular melanization elicited by Hez-PBAN1-33NH2 in S. littoralis larvae in the presence and absence of the D-Phe peptides. The data revealed the presence of two partial melanotropic antagonists, and disclosed the presence of selective pure melanotropic agonists and pure pheromonotropic antagonists indicating differences in the inhibitory and stimulatory patterns of the library with respect to both activities. The differences between the pheromonotropic and melanotropic inhibitory patterns of the peptides hints at the possibility that sex pheromone biosynthesis in the pheromone gland of Heliothis peltigera females and induction of cuticular melanization in S. littoralis may be mediated by different receptors (that may result either from presence of different receptor sub-types or may reflect species differences in receptor structure and/or properties) despite the fact that they are induced by the same peptide (PBAN1-33NH2).