Evolutionary conserved sites mediate activation of juvenile hormone receptor

An interdisciplinary team comprised of researchers from the Institute of Entomology (Czech Academy of Sciences) and Department of Chemistry at the University of South Bohemia published an original research paper in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.  The article deals with the mechanism of juvenile hormone (JH) signalling in insects. JH sustains development and reproduction of insects, the largest of animal taxa that bears tremendous impact on ecosystems, agriculture, and transmission of infectious diseases. JH action depends on receptor proteins that, when bound by the hormonal ligand, form a gene-regulatory nuclear complex. Mechanisms of the JH receptor activation remain unclear. Our study identified evolutionarily conserved sites within the JH receptor protein that are essential for its ligand-dependent transition from a cytoplasmic chaperone assembly to the DNA-bound complex that actively engages in transcriptional regulation. These results provide insights essential for our understanding of molecular principles that govern JH signalling and underlie the effects of the vital endocrine signal and may guide design of novel, selective insecticides.

Bittova, L., Tumova, S., Yatsenko, M., Mokhamatam, R. B., Tuma, R., & Jindra, M. (2026). Juvenile hormone receptor relies on conserved domain interfaces for dimerization-dependent activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 123(32), e2605755123.

Link to the full publication.