Desensitization of neuromedin B receptors (NMB-R) on native and NMB-R-transfected cells involves down-regulation and internalization.

The receptor for neuromedin B (NMB-R), a mammalian bombesin-related peptide, is widely distributed in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. While it is known that this receptor is coupled to phospholipase C, like many other phospholipase C-activating receptors, little is known about regulation of the NMB-R subsequent to agonist stimulation. We studied both native NMB-R on C-6 rat glioblastoma cells and wild type NMB-R cloned from rat esophageal muscle which was stably transfected into Balb/3T3 fibroblasts. Both cell types rapidly increased [3H]inositol phosphates and [Ca2+]i in response to 1 microM NMB, whereas preincubation with 3 nM NMB for 3 h markedly attenuated the ability of 1 microM NMB, but not 1 microM endothelin-1, to alter either cell type's biological activity. Prolonged exposure to 3 nM NMB caused a rapid decrease in the number of NMB-R, with the maximal receptor down-regulation seen at 24 h due to NMB-R internalization. After maximal down-regulation, removal of agonist resulted in a rapid restoration of NMB-R to the cell surface of both cell types. NMB-R recovery at 6 h was blocked by monensin, an inhibitor of receptor recycling, but was not affected by cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor. Resensitization to agonist paralleled the recovery of NMB-R in both cell types, and resensitization likewise was blocked by monensin. Our data demonstrate that the NMB-R undergoes rapid homologous desensitization consequent to agonist stimulation, which is mediated by receptor down-regulation and which, in turn, is regulated by internalization. During resensitization, NMB-R reappearance on the cell surface membrane is independent of protein synthesis and is due to a recycling from an intracellular site.

Different response of brain cholecystokinin content to intragastric administration of trypsin inhibitor (camostate) in young and old rats.

The tissue concentrations of cholecystokinin in the intestine and the brain in young (4-8-month-old), and old (26-29-month-old) rats before and after intragastric administration of synthetic trypsin inhibitor (camostate) were examined. The total cholecystokinin content in the proximal intestine was significantly higher in old rats, whereas that in the brain was similar in young and old rats. Intragastric administration of camostate significantly increased the plasma cholecystokinin concentration and decreased the intestinal cholecystokinin content in both young and old rats. It also decreased the cholecystokinin content in the brain of old rats but not of young rats. These results suggest that the effect of aging on changes in the tissue content of cholecystokinin varies in different tissues.

Stimulatory and inhibitory effects of bile salts on rat pancreatic secretion.

The effects of various species of bile salts (chenodeoxycholate, deoxycholate, ursodeoxycholate and cholate, and their taurine and glycine conjugates) on pancreatic exocrine secretion were studied in conscious rats with external bile and pancreatic fistulae. For examination of the stimulatory effects of bile salts, bile and pancreatic juice were collected for a basal period of 90 minutes and returned to the intestine, and then solutions of bile salts (60 mmol/L) were infused intraduodenally at a rate of 1 mL/h for 2 hours. For examination of their inhibitory effects, pancreatic secretion was stimulated by exclusion of the bile and pancreatic juice; and then solutions of the bile salts were again infused intraduodenally. Chenodeoxycholate, glycochenodeoxycholate, ursodeoxycholate, deoxycholate, and its conjugates (glycodeoxycholate and taurodeoxycholate) significantly increased the fluid, bicarbonate and protein outputs, and bicarbonate concentration, with decrease in protein concentration. These increases were partially inhibited by infusion of either a cholecystokinin antagonist or secretin antibody. In contrast, cholate, taurocholate, tauroursodeoxycholate, glycoursodeoxycholate, and taurochenodeoxycholate inhibited pancreatic secretion and increase in the plasma cholecystokinin concentration produced by exclusion of bile and pancreatic juice. Thus, some bile salts, including taurocholate and taurochenodeoxycholate (major bile salts in rat bile) inhibited pancreatic secretion and cholecystokinin release, whereas some other bile salts increased pancreatic secretion via cholecystokinin release and secretin release.

Effect of taurocholate on CCK release and pancreatic secretion produced by two CCK-releasing peptides in conscious rats.

The role of luminal bile salts (taurocholate) in regulation of rat pancreatic secretion was examined by studies on the effects of luminal stimulants on the pancreas during infusion of various concentrations of taurocholate into the duodenum of conscious rats. Rats with external bile and pancreatic fistulae were used. For 24 h before the experiment, pancreatic juice was excluded from the intestine but bile was continuously returned to the duodenum. From the beginning of the experiment, 8-200 mM of taurocholate was infused at a rate of 1 ml/h instead of returning the bile. Pancreatic juice was collected for a 2-h period and then 2 micrograms of pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor-61 (PSTI-61) (= monitor peptide) or partially purified putative CCK-releasing peptide from rat intestine (intestinal CCK-RP) was injected into the duodenum (1 ml/min). Continuous infusion of taurocholate maintained a constant rate of pancreatic secretion, except at a concentration of 8 mM, which resulted in a slight increase in pancreatic secretion. Both PSTI-61 and intestinal CCK-RP significantly increased pancreatic secretions during infusion of 20 or 40 mM taurocholate, but had no significant effect during infusion of 80 or 200 mM taurocholate. Therefore, higher concentrations of taurocholate in the intestine prevented the stimulatory effects of luminal stimulants, probably by preventing the latter from reaching CCK cells.

Absence of luminal bile increases duodenal content of cholecystokinin in rats.

The effects of the removal of bile from the proximal intestine on pancreas, plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) concentration, and duodenal content of CCK were examined in rats. Bile was excluded from the duodenum and introduced into the distal ileum through a silastic cannula for 7 days. Pancreatic juice was maintained to be normally secreted into the duodenum. After 7-day bile diversion, plasma CCK concentration and duodenal CCK content were significantly increased in bile-diverted rats. Trypsin content in the proximal intestine in bile-diverted rats was one-half that in control. Pancreatic wet weight, protein content, and DNA content in the pancreas were slightly increased, and lipase content was slightly decreased, by bile diversion, but none of these changes was statistically significant. Amylase content significantly decreased and chymotrypsin content significantly increased in bile-diverted rats. Intragastric administration of camostate (trypsin inhibitor) significantly increased plasma CCK concentration in both bile-diverted and control rats, and the net increase was much greater in bile-diverted rats than in control rats. In conclusion, bile diversion increased duodenal CCK content and increased the CCK response to luminal stimulant.

Necessity of hyperglycemia for effects of endogenous cholecystokinin on insulin and pancreatic exocrine secretion in conscious rats.

The effects of endogenous cholecystokinin (CCK) on insulin and pancreatic exocrine secretion were examined in conscious rats. Rats with bile and pancreatic fistulae, one duodenal cannula, and two jugular vein cannulae were divided into four groups, with and without glucose infusion (0.2 g/(ml.h)), and with bile and pancreatic juice (BPJ) diversion and return. Without glucose infusion, BPJ diversion did not have any significant effect on the plasma level of insulin or glucose; but with glucose infusion, it caused a significant increase in plasma insulin concentration 1 h after the diversion. The plasma glucose concentrations in the groups with BPJ diversion and return were not significantly different, and the response of pancreatic exocrine secretion to BPJ diversion was suppressed slightly, but not significantly, by glucose infusion. The plasma CCK concentration was increased significantly by BPJ diversion, but not affected by glucose infusion. These results indicate that, as observed in in vitro experiments with exogenous CCK, in conscious rats, endogenous CCK stimulates both exocrine and endocrine secretion of the pancreas, and that hyperglycemia is necessary for these effects to become apparent.