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Title: JUVENILE HORMONE MIMICS INHIBIT PROLIFERATION IN A LEPIDOPTERAN IMAGINAL DISC CELL LINE

Author
item Oberlander, Herbert
item Leach Jr, Clarence
item SHAAYA, E. - AGRIC. RES. ORG./ISRAEL

Submitted to: Journal of Insect Physiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/7/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The control of insect pests with chemicals that are mimics of the insects' own unique hormones has provided a successful method for environmentally safe pest management. The possibility of non-target effects has been watched very carefully during the past two decades, and the most used juvenile hormone mimic, methoprene, has been cleared for direct use on grain, based on its safety and efficacy. Long term evaluations of a variety of juvenile hormone mimics would be aided by a sensitive tissue culture assay that would permit analysis at the cellular level. Scientists at the ARS, USDA Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Florida in cooperation with a scientist from the Volcani Center in Israel, have developed permanent cell lines that grow in tissue culture and respond to insect hormones. The Indian meal moth cell line is responsive to juvenile hormone and its mimics, and provides a new assay system for studying and comparing these compounds at the cellular level.

Technical Abstract: The action of juvenile hormone (JH) and JH mimics have been examined in vitro by utilizing the imaginal disc-derived cell line, IAL-PID2. We have discovered that the cell line was responsive to JH and a variety of JH mimics. The most consistent response obtained in our studies was inhibition of cell proliferation, in the absence of 20- OHE, which characteristically reduces cell proliferation in its own right in this cell line. The following compounds showed significant inhibition of cell proliferation after 3 days of exposure of the cells in vitro: JH-I, JH-III, methoprene, fenoxycarb, and farnesol. However, linoleic acid had no effect on the cultures. The cell proliferation assay demonstrates the JH responsiveness of this cell line, but the concentrations of JH required are high compared to the levels needed for inhibition of cell proliferation by ecdysteroids.