The GLWamide family of peptides comprises neuropeptides important for regulating the developmental and physiological processes in cnidarians.
The GLWamide family peptides were first isolated as a neuropeptide, termed metamorphosin A (MMA), from the anthozoan Anthopleura elegantissima.Subsequently, seven GLWamide family members were independently isolated from Hydra magnipapillata.A cDNA from the colonial hydroid Hydractinia echinata has two GLWamide family peptides.Other GLWamide family peptides are predicted in two other anthozoans: Actinia equina, with eight GLWamides, included in MMA; and Anemonia sulcata, with five GLWamides, included in MMA.
METAMORPHOSIN A can induce the metamorphosis of planula larvae of H. echinate.All the GLWamides from Hydra also have the ability to induce the metamorphosis of Hydractinia planula larvae into polyps.Moreover, the shortest possible predicted peptide PPGLW-NH2 as well as (A) KPPGLW-NH2, which are predicted from the cDNA structure of the precursor protein of Hydractinia, induce metamorphosis in a dose-dependent manner.Furthermore, a GLWamide family member in Hydra, Hym-248, is capable of inducing the metamorphosis of acroporid larvae into polyps at high rates (approximately 100%), with Acropora planulae responding to the peptide in a dose-dependent manner.
