Stimulation of mucus glycoprotein biosynthesis in rat gastric mucosa by gastrin

We examined the effects of the gastrin family of peptides on gastric mucus glycoprotein (mucin) biosynthesis in rat gastric mucosa using an organ culture technique. Radiolabeled mucin was obtained from the tissue and culture medium of the corpus and antrum of rat stomach incubated for 5 hr with [3H]glucosamine (GlcN), [14C]threonine (Thr), and [35S]sulfate in vitro. With the addition of 10(-8) and 10(-7) M tetragastrin to the culture medium, [3H]GlcN labeled mucin in the corpus tissue increased to 120-135% that of the control (P < 0.01). The biosynthetic responses to cholecystokinin (CCK)-8 and the 17-peptide gastrin were essentially the same as that to tetragastrin. Tetragastrin 10(-8) M also increased the incorporation of [35S]sulfate into the corpus mucin but failed to change [14C]Thr incorporation. In the antrum, biosynthetic activity showed no significant change with 10(-9) approximately 10(-5) M tetragastrin. Ranitidine, diphenhydramine and omeprazole at 10(-5) M did not suppress the tetragastrin-induced increase in [3H]GlcN incorporation into mucin, but L-365,260 at a concentration of 10(-6) M completely blocked this effect. These results suggest that gastrin stimulates mucin production via CCK-B/gastrin receptors in the oxyntic region of rat gastric mucosa.