Cellular mechanisms of somatostatin action in the gut

We have used isolated canine parietal cells to examine the receptor and postreceptor events mediating the inhibitory effects of somatostatin on acid secretion. Somatostatin-14 (S14) and somatostatin-28 (S28) dose dependently inhibited parietal cells stimulated by secretagogues that activate both the adenylate cyclase/cyclic adenosine monophosphate and the inositol phospholipid/protein kinase C cascades. The inhibitory action was mediated via a specific cell surface receptor that consists of a single subunit protein (molecular weight 99,000 d). This receptor recognized S14 and S28 equally well. Somatostatin inhibited parietal cell activity via mechanisms that are both dependent on and independent of a pertussis toxin-sensitive inhibitory guanine nucleotide binding protein.