Differential cholecystokinin gene expression in brain and gut of the fasted rat

Cholecystokinin (CCK) gene expression has been compared in the brain and duodenum of control and 5 days fasted rats. To study transcription, CCK mRNA was quantified using a solution hybridization assay. Large and small molecular weight CCK peptides were separated using a sequential extraction process and subsequently quantified by radioimmunoassay. In the duodenum, a fall in weight was paralleled by a decrease in CCK mRNA and in the large forms of CCK peptides. Small molecular species of CCK peptides did not change. There was no change in weight, CCK transcriptional or translational products in the brain as a whole. These data indicate location-specific differential regulation of the products of CCK gene expression in the fasted rat.