PROSTAGLANDINS AND RELATED EICOSANOIDS IN INSECTS

This chapter presents a historical and comprehensive review of the understanding of arachidonic acid and its oxygenated metabolites in insects and other arthropods. This chapter discusses prostaglandis and eicosanoids in insects. Eicosanoid is an umbrella term for all of the biologically active metabolites of arachidonic and two other C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Certain PUFAs are transformed into eicosanoids, which mediate a bewildering array of biological activities, many of which centre around signalling or regulating events within cells. The chapter discusses models of eicosanoid action. An appreciation of the roles of eicosanoids, such as prostaglandins (PGs) and related compounds, in various animal groups entails a broadly comparative physiology. Lying amid nutrition and physiology, arachidonic acid oxygenation involves three major biochemical pathways. The products of each major pathway are often themselves substrates of other pathways. The result is a plethora of oxygenated metabolites, each with a singular potential to exert a potent biological effect on cell function. © 1994, Academic Press Limited