Pondering the Neuroendocrine Control of Molting in Crabs and Lobsters with Don Mykles

Every year humans consume approximately 10 million tons of crustaceans – crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and crayfish.  In order to grow these creatures must shed their hard exoskeleton in a remarkable process called molting.  Molting is controlled by a neuropeptide which is released into the blood and acts to suppress the production of a steroid molting hormone produced in the Y organ. In this episode Professor Don Mykles of Colorado State University talks about the remarkable process of molting and the cellular and molecular processes that control the production of the molting hormone and its actions on tissues in the body. Mykles’ laboratory discovered that the mTOR signaling pathway is of fundamental importance in the control of molting. This of considerable interest because mTOR is believed to play pivotal roles in neuroplasticity, aging, and developmental brain disorders in humans.

LINKS:

CSU Crab Lab webpage: https://mykleslab.biology.colostate.edu/researchers_mykles.html

Review article on the neuroendocrine control of molting:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8256442/pdf/fendo-12-674711.pdf

The ‘CrusTome’: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10320764/pdf/jkad098.pdf