* Original article: http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14237 http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14237 * This is research on nematodes (https://www.wikiwand

* Original article: http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14237 http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14237 * This is research on nematodes (https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nematode https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nematode), an organism that has all its 302 neurons mapped. * The orthologues of the neuroendocrine peptide FLP-7 and its cognate NPR-22 are the tachykinin / neurokinin family. * Tachykinin peptides are one of the largest families of neuropeptides https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tachykinin_peptides https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tachykinin_peptides. * In "Neuropeptides: regulators of physiological processes (Strand), H15" some more background info can be found. * Kinins form of a group of peptides that cause vasodilation, increase vascular permeability, cause hypotension, and introduce contraction of smooth muscle. * The tachykinins (tachys, swift) evoke a sharp contraction of the smooth muscle of the gut. * There are at least three types: Substance P, Neurokinin A, and Neurokinin B. The last two have been only discovered in the early 1980s. * The genes are also called Tac(hykinin). * Human tachykinin genes are called TAC1 and TAC3 and are equivalent to Tac1 and Tac2 of the mouse. * Connection between Tac1 in mouse and adiposity is known https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4398763/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4398763/ * Or Tachykinins and lipid metabolism in drosophila: http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/abstract/S2211-1247(14)00736-0 http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/abstract/S2211-1247(14)0073... * Here is where you can buy tachykinins: https://www.scbt.com/scbt/browse/chemicals-Nucleotides-Peptides-Proteins-Amino-Acids-tachykinins/_/N-13mzg8z https://www.scbt.com/scbt/browse/chemicals-Nucleotides-Pepti... * Note. As layman (I've only studied regulatory networks for the purpose of evo-devo algorithms) it is likely that diversification of neuropeptide function across the peripheral system (different functionality in heart vessels vs intestines e.g.) means that it is also likely that the evolutionary function has not been preserved. * Note. Why do tachykinins have the right structure to play a role in this pathway? * The study is still interesting because tachykinins are an "evolutionary preserved" family of peptide neurotransmitters.