Bursicon is a 30 kDa neurohormone heterodimeric protein which is encoded by CG13419 gene and made of two cysteine knot subunits, Burs-α and Burs-β.
[2] It is nondialyzable and loses its activity in alcohol, acetone, some proteases and trichloroacetate, renaturates after adding ammonium sulfate.
It is produced by median neurosecretory cells in the brain, circulates in blood and stored in corpora cardiaca.
The structure of the protein has been investigated well in fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), and in some insect species bursicon gene has been sequenced, including the mosquito (Anopheles gambiae), cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus), locust (Locusta migratoria), and mealworm (Tenebrio molitor).
The hormone is also present in the silkworm (Bombyx mori), blow fly (Calliphora erythrocephala), and cockroach (Periplaneta americana).