Molecular and functional identification of a Ca2+ (polyvalent cation)-sensing receptor in rat pancreas

The balance between the concentrations of free ionized Ca2+ and bicarbonate in pancreatic juice is of critical importance in preventing the formation of calcium carbonate stones. How the pancreas regulates the ionic composition and the level of Ca2+ saturation in an alkaline environment such as the pancreatic juice is not known. Because of the tight cause-effect relationship between Ca2+ concentration and lithogenicity, and because hypercalcemia is proposed as an etiologic factor for several pancreatic diseases, we have investigated whether pancreatic tissues express a Ca2+-sensing receptor (CaR) similar to that recently identified in parathyroid tissue. Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence microscopy, we demonstrate the presence of a CaR-like molecule in rat pancreatic acinar cells, pancreatic ducts, and islets of Langerhans. Functional studies, in which intracellular free Ca2+ concentration was measured in isolated acinar cells and interlobular ducts, show that both cell types are responsive to the CaR agonist gadolinium (Gd3+) and to changes in extracellular Ca2+ concentration. We also assessed the effects of CaR stimulation on physiological HCO3- secretion from ducts by making measurements of intracellular pH. Luminal Gd3+ is a potent stimulus for HCO3- secretion, being equally as effective as raising intracellular cAMP with forskolin. These results suggest that the CaR in the exocrine pancreas monitors the Ca2+ concentration in the pancreatic juice, and might therefore be involved in regulating the level of Ca2+ in the lumen, both under basal conditions and during hormonal stimulation. The failure of this mechanism might lead to pancreatic stone formation and even to pancreatitis.