Establishment of a novel ghrelin-producing cell line

To establish a tool to study ghrelin production and secretion in vitro, we developed a novel ghrelin-producing cell line, MGN3-1 (mouse ghrelinoma 3-1) cells from a gastric ghrelin-producing cell tumor derived from ghrelin-promoter Simian virus 40-T-antigen transgenic mice. MGN3-1 cells preserve three essential characteristics required for the in vitro tool for ghrelin research. First, MGN3-1 cells produce a substantial amount of ghrelin at levels approximately 5000 times higher than that observed in TT cells. Second, MGN3-1 cell expressed two key enzymes for acyl modification and maturation of ghrelin, namely ghrelin O-acyltransferase for acylation and prohormone convertase 1/3 for maturation and the physiological acyl modification and maturation of ghrelin were confirmed. Third, MGN3-1 cells retain physiological regulation of ghrelin secretion, at least in regard to the suppression by somatostatin and insulin, which is well established in in vivo studies. Thus, MGN3-1 cells are the first cell line derived from a gastric ghrelin-producing cell preserving secretion of substantial amounts of ghrelin under physiological regulation. This cell line will be a useful tool for both studying the production and secretion of ghrelin and screening of ghrelin-modulating drugs.