Abstract: As one kind of phosphagen kinases, arginine kinase is widely distributed in various tissues of invertebrates. In the long-term evolutionary process, the spatial structures of arginine kinases of different insects have differentiated. However, their amino acid sequences are highly conserved. Functionally, arginine kinases are primarily involved in energy metabolism and maintain the normal life activity in insects and other invertebrates. In addition, with the development of modern scientific techniques, more and more studies show that arginine kinase also plays an important role in autoimmunity and paralysis of host insects. In this article, the distribution, structure and functions of arginine kinases in insects were reviewed.

Key words: Insect, arginine kinase, distribution, structure, function