Evolutionary conservation and adaptability of cholecystokinin neuropeptide signaling in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (opens in new tab)

Food ingestion is fundamental for animal survival and growth, with the cessation of feeding upon nutrient fulfillment being tightly regulated by a variety of satiety factors. Notably, sulfakinin/cholecystokinin (SK/CCK)-type neuropeptide signaling has been identified as an inhibitory regulator of food intake across the animal kingdom. However, its regulatory mechanism in feeding in deuterostome invertebrates remains unclear. Here, we characterized SK/CCK-type signaling in a deuterostome inver...