Molecular cloning and expression of a human secretin receptor.

Secretin is a 27-amino acid neuroendocrine peptide that stimulates fluid and electrolyte secretion in the gastrointestinal tract, activates tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the central nervous system, and affects cardiac and renal function. Specific receptors for secretin have been previously characterized on neuroblastoma cells, pancreatic acini, gastric glands, and liver cholangiocytes. We report here the isolation of a 1616-base pair cDNA from human lung tissue that encodes a 440-amino acid, 50-kDa, G protein-coupled human secretin receptor (HSR), with homology of 80% with the rat secretin receptor and 37% with the human type I vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor. Northern blot analysis of human tissue mRNA revealed that the relative intensity for expression of a 2.1-kilobase HSR transcript was pancreas > kidney > small intestine > lung > liver, with trace levels in brain, heart, and ovary. Stable transfectants of HSR in human embryonic kidney 293 cells, termed 293S12, expressed 10(5) binding sites/cell for 125I-secretin, with an apparent Kd of 3.2 nM. Vasoactive intestinal peptide, pituitary adenylyl cyclase-activating peptide-38, and glucagon were less potent (by 3 orders of magnitude) than secretin in competitively inhibiting 125I-secretin binding to 293S12 cells. Secretin evoked concurrent dose-dependent increases in intracellular cAMP and calcium levels in 293S12 cells and stimulated a 4-fold increase in phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis. Thus, the HSR expressed by stable transfectants can couple to two distinct intracellular signaling pathways.

Differences in the regulation of messenger RNA for housekeeping and specialized-cell ferritin. A comparison of three distinct ferritin complementary DNAs, the corresponding subunits, and identification of the first processed in amphibia.

The ferritin family is a widespread group of proteins that maintain iron in a soluble form and also protect against the toxic effects of excess iron. The structure and sequence of the proteins are highly conserved. However, the cell-specific features of structure which occur within the same organism indicate cell specificity of gene expression and may be related to variations in types of iron storage, i.e. specialized-cell ferritin (stored iron is for other cell types) versus housekeeping ferritin (stored iron is for intracellular purposes related to normal or stress metabolism); the protein structure may also affect rates of iron turnover. Iron induces ferritin synthesis and accumulation by recruiting stored ferritin mRNA that is efficiently translated in cells specialized for iron storage. For the first time we show the occurrence of three different cDNAs from bullfrog tadpoles, corresponding to three subunits of the protein: H, M, and L. Thus, ferritin can be encoded by at least three different mRNAs and probably three different genes, in contrast to the older idea of two, H and L; the subunits maintain the conserved sequences of known ferritins and have similar predicted masses, 20.5, 20.6, and 19.9 kDa, but have distinct mobilities in denaturing gels. Ferritin subunit expression is cell specific; more of the H and L chain mRNAs are expressed in red cells than in liver. Ferritin expression is regulated by transcription (or mRNA stability) in adult red cells; cellular levels of ferritin mRNA were 20% that of embryonic red cells, and L subunit mRNA increased 2.5 times with excess iron. Ferritin expression is also regulated during translation in adult red cells; iron recruits stored ferritin mRNA, but only during certain stages of red cell maturation, in contrast to embryonic red cells. The developmental differences in ferritin expression are discussed in relation to the shift from specialized-cell ferritin to housekeeping ferritin in red cells of the embryonic versus adult lines.