Partial agonism by gastrin for a cholecystokinin receptor mediating pepsinogen secretion

Isolated gastric glands from rabbit were used to characterize the functional cholecystokinin (CCK)-like peptide receptors that mediate pepsinogen secretion. Pepsinogen secretion was stimulated by both CCK octapeptide sulfate (CCK-8) and A-71378, a selective CCK-A-type receptor agonist, with similar mean effective doses (1.0 and 0.8 nM, respectively). Compared with CCK-8, gastrin-17 (G-17-I) showed reduced potency and only partial efficacy for stimulation of pepsinogen secretion while inhibiting the maximal CCK-8-stimulated response. The nonpeptide inhibitors, asperlicin and L-364,718, inhibited pepsinogen secretion with identical pA2 values for antagonism of both CCK and gastrin, indicating that both peptides interact with the same functional receptor. Specific binding of [3H]CCK-8 to isolated chief cell membranes was displaced fully by both CCK and gastrin, indicating full receptor occupancy by both peptides. A novel synthetic peptide analogue, pseudogastrin [(Glu)5-Ala-Tyr-Nle-Gly-Trp-Nle-Asp-Phe-NH2], was used to investigate the structural basis for the lower potency and efficacy of G-17-I. The potency of CCK and gastrin analogues for pepsinogen secretion was found to be dependent on both sulfation of a tyrosine residue and the position of the tyrosine residue relative to the COOH-terminal phenylalanine amide. The efficacy appears to be determined partially by the extended NH2-terminal sequence of G-17-I. The results of the present study are interpreted to show that pepsinogen secretion is mediated by a CCK-A-type receptor and gastrin acts at the same receptor as a partial agonist.