Pepsinogen secretion from cultured rat gastric mucosal cells

Rat gastric mucosal cells were isolated with the aid of 0.1% collagenase and Dispase. Pepsinogen secretion from these cells was stimulated by carbachol, cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK(S)-8) and pentagastrin, but not by histamine. Attempts to obtain a sufficient number of cells using a higher concentration of Dispase resulted in disappearance of the responses to secretagogues. However, when gastric mucosal cells thus prepared were cultured for 24 h in a CO2 incubator, they were found to respond not only to carbachol, CCK(S)-8 and pentagastrin, but also to histamine, resulting in an increase in pepsinogen secretion. The secretagogue-induced pepsinogen secretion was inhibited by its antagonist in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the receptor present in chief cells for pepsinogen secretion was destroyed during the isolation procedure and regenerated during culture.