Cortistatin radioligand binding in wild-type and somatostatin receptor-deficient mouse brain

Cortistatin-14 (CST-14) is a recently discovered member of the somatostatin family of neuropeptides. It shares 11 of its 14 amino acids with somatostatin-14 (SRIF-14). In the present study, binding sites for cortistatin-14 in the mouse brain were examined and compared to those for somatostatin using iodinated cortistatin-14 and iodinated somatostatin-14. By in vitro receptor autoradiography, high densities of cortistatin-14 and somatostatin-14 specific binding sites were detected in the cortex, hippocampal formation, basolateral amygdala and medial habenula. Unlabeled 100 nM cortistatin-14 inhibited iodinated somatostatin-14 binding in the hippocampus, but not in the cortex or amygdaloid nuclei. In somatostatin receptor subtype-2 knock-out (KO) mice, autoradiographic iodinated somatostatin-14 binding was observed in the hippocampus and habenula but was removed in the cortex and amygdaloid nuclei, specific iodinated cortistatin-14 binding sites were found in the hippocampus, habenula and throughout the cortex. We conclude that the somatostatin receptor subtype-2 is responsible for somatostatin binding in cortical and amygdaloid regions and that cortistatin predominantly interacts with the same receptors as somatostatin.