Somatostatin-28 encoded in a cloned cDNA obtained from a rat medullary thyroid carcinoma

We have constructed and cloned in bacteria complementary DNAs derived from a transplantable rat medullary thyroid carcinoma. Using a hybridization probe encoding an anglerfish islet pre-prosomatostatin, a precursor of the tetradecapeptide somatostatin, we have identified and isolated a clone containing a 400-base pair complementary DNA encoding most of the rat carcinoma pre-prosomatostatin. The amino acid sequence of the tetradecapeptide somatostatin and of the amino-terminally extended form, somatostatin-28 was deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the complementary DNA. Somatostatin-28 was found at the COOH terminus of a polypeptide of at least 80 amino acids indicating that somatostatin-28 arises by cleavage from a large precursor. The sequences of somatostatin-28 and somatostatin-14 are strictly conserved between the rat and other mammals. Such conservation of these sequences indicates strong selective pressures during evolution to maintain the sequence and suggests that somatostatin-28 may serve some essential biologic functions apart from, or in addition to, the important regulatory actions of somatostatin-14. Additionally, we found a high degree of homology in the amino acid sequences of the NH2-terminal extension peptides in the anglerfish islet and the rat carcinoma pre-prosomatostatins pointing further to a possible biologic function of these extension peptides.