Interaction of CCK with pancreatic acinar cells.

Recent studies demonstrate that cholecystokinin-like peptides are widely distributed in the CNS as well as in the peripheral nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. Studies with agonists have demonstrated multiple classes of receptors and recently potent receptor antagonists have been described which will distinguish these classes and should allow a better understanding of the role of CCK in various physiological processes. One of the known peripheral physiological functions of CCK is the stimulation of digestive enzymes from pancreatic acinar cells. In recent years the interaction of CCK with pancreatic acinar cells has been extensively studied and significant advances have been made in understanding its cellular basis of action. Robert Jensen and colleagues report on each of these areas.

Age-dependent stimulation of neonatal insulin release and inositol phosphate accumulation by CCK-8 and carbachol.

Development of a robust insulin secretory response to glucose occurs during the early neonatal period. To determine if neuroendocrine agents play a role during this time, we studied the effects of selected peptides and neurotransmitters on insulin release and polyphosphoinositide metabolism in islets isolated from 1- and 3-day neonatal rats. Vasoactive intestinal peptide had no effect on glucose-stimulated release in either islet population. In contrast, sulfated cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) significantly enhanced glucose-induced insulin release in both islet groups. One-day islets were stimulated only by a concentration of 300 nM, whereas 3-day islets were responsive at 3 nM. Similar to CCK-8, there were clear differences in responses to carbachol between 1- and 3-day islets. One-day islets required a concentration of 200 microM for insulin release to be significantly greater than with glucose alone; 3-day islet insulin release was significant at 2 microM carbachol. Both agonists stimulated inositol phosphate accumulation in 3-day islets, but only CCK-8 caused a significant increase over glucose-induced levels in 1-day islets. These results indicate that islet responsiveness to CCK-8 and carbachol develops in parallel during the early neonatal period. This development may be linked to the maturation of a critical step of stimulus-secretion coupling through which these agents act.

Effects of cholecystokinin octapeptide and carbachol on neonatal insulin secretory dynamics.

The effects of glucose, sulfated cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-8), or carbachol on insulin secretory dynamics were studied in pancreatic islets isolated from 1- and 3-day-old neonatal rats. When challenged with glucose, 1-day islets responded with a definite first phase and elevated secretion during the latter part of the stimulation period; 3-day islets had a first phase and a rising, sustained second phase. The presence of stimulatory concentrations of CCK-8 or carbachol in addition to glucose caused dramatic changes in the release pattern in both islet populations. In 1-day islets, carbachol stimulated mainly first phase secretion whereas CCK-8 enhanced first phase release and produced a definite second phase response. The two secretagogues increased significantly both phases of release in 3-day islets with no differences between the two agents in their effects. These results indicate that CCK-8 and carbachol differentially stimulate neonatal insulin secretion, possibly through different steps in the stimulus-secretion pathway. They also suggest that the cellular mechanism for second phase release is present in 1-day islets and can be activated by CCK-8.

Gastrin and CCK activate phospholipase C and stimulate pepsinogen release by interacting with two distinct receptors.

Both gastrin and cholecystokinin (CCK) can stimulate pepsinogen release from chief cells, but controversy exists about the receptors or intracellular mediators involved. In the present study, we prepared isolated chief cells from guinea pig stomach (> 90% pure) to investigate the ability of gastrin and CCK to alter cell function. The COOH-terminal octapeptide of CCK (CCK-8) caused an eightfold increase in pepsinogen release (EC50, 54 nM). Both CCK-8 and gastrin increased inositol phosphates, with CCK-8 (1 microM) and gastrin (3 microM) causing a 40- and 14-fold increase in [3H]IP1, 10- and 6-fold for [3H]IP2, and 8- and 4-fold for [3H]IP3. CCK-8 caused a half-maximal increase in [3H]IP3 at 2 nM, and the dose-response curve was monophasic, whereas with gastrin the curve was biphasic, with an EC50 of the initial component (20% maximal) at 38 nM and the second component at 10 microM. L-364,718 (0.1 microM) inhibited the secondary increase seen with gastrin concentrations > 10 nM. The CCK-A-selective agonist A-71378 was 85-90% as efficacious as CCK-8 and was equally potent. With 0.1 microM L-364,718, A-71378 caused no increase in [3H]inositol phosphates until > 10 nM, whereas CCK-8 caused 15% of maximal increase at concentrations > 0.3 nM. Similar results were obtained with cytosolic calcium measured using fura-2 or on CCK-8- or gastrin-stimulated pepsinogen release. These results demonstrate that gastrin and CCK-8 can alter chief cell function by interacting with either a CCK-A or CCK-B/gastrin receptor. Both receptors are coupled to phospholipase C and cause changes in inositol phosphates, cytosolic calcium, and pepsinogen release; however, the intracellular amplification differs between the two receptor subtypes. Activation by CCK-related peptides of the CCK-A receptor subtype accounts for 85-90% of the maximal changes in cellular function, and activation of the CCK-B/gastrin receptor accounts for 10-20% of maximal changes.

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide enhances hormone content and insulin release in cultured fetal rat islets.

The effect of porcine vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) on development of the biphasic insulin release response in cultured fetal rat islets was investigated. Fetal islets, 21.5 days gestational age, were cultured for 7 days in RPMI 1640 culture medium containing either 2.8 or 11.1 mM glucose adn subsequently challenged with 16.7 mM glucose in a perfusion system. Islets were exposed to VIP at a final concentration of 13.2 nM by adding the peptide to the perifusion buffer (acute exposure) or by adding it to the culture medium throughout the culture period (chronic exposure). Islet hormone and DNA contents were also quantitated at the end of the culture period. Acute exposure to VIP resulted in no alterations of the insulin release pattern after culture in the presence of either glucose concentration. However, chronic treatment of islets with 13.2 nM VIP in the presence of 2.8 mM glucose resulted in significant increases in the maximum rate of insulin release during the first phase and the total amount of insulin release during both phases. Similarly, islets cultured in the presence of 11.1 mM glucose and 13.2 nM VIP demonstrated enhanced biphasic insulin release patterns with increased maximum rate and total amount of release during both phases. The presence of VIP and 2.8 mM glucose increased islet glucagon and somatostatin contents, but islet DNA and insulin contents remained unchanged. These findings indicate that VIP plays a significant role in the in vitro development of the biphasic insulin release pattern and may be a factor controlling the maturation of the fetal islet in vivo.

Cholecystokinin-induced formation of inositol phosphates in pancreatic acini.

For cholecystokinin (CCK) and the partial agonist CCK-JMV-180 [Boc-Nle28,31,CCK-(27-32)-2-phenylethyl ester], we examined their abilities to stimulate the accumulation of inositol phosphates (IP), mobilize intracellular calcium, and stimulate enzyme secretion in rat pancreatic acini. CCK-8 caused an increase in [3H]IP2 and [3H]IP3 at 10 s and a slower increase in [3H]IP1. High-pressure liquid chromatography separation demonstrated that at 10 s 100% of the increase of [3H]IP3 was IP3(1,4,5). CCK-JMV-180 caused no increase in [3H]IP3 at 10 s and only 28% of the maximal increase seen with CCK-8 at 15 min. CCK-8 caused an 11-fold increase in calcium outflux, whereas CCK-JMV-180 was only 45% as effective and 3,000 times less potent. CCK-JMV-180 antagonized the CCK-8-stimulated increase in [3H]IP3 and mobilization of intracellular calcium. CCK-8 caused an 81-fold increase at 2.5 s in IP3(1,4,5) measured by a mass radioreceptor assay and half-maximal stimulation occurred at 2 nM, whereas CCK-JMV-180 only caused a 3-fold increase. Analysis of the ability of CCK-8 or CCK-JMV-180 to stimulate enzyme secretion demonstrated that at low concentrations, each peptide stimulates enzyme secretion without causing detectable calcium mobilization, whereas at increasing peptide concentrations calcium mobilization occurs without detectable accumulation of IP3(1,4,5), but at still higher concentrations IP3(1,4,5) accumulation is finally detected. These results demonstrate that peptides that stimulate enzyme secretion by interacting with CCK receptors can cause maximal stimulation with minimal changes in calcium mobilization and maximal changes in calcium mobilization occur with minimal changes in IP3(1,4,5), suggesting marked amplification.