Molecular cloning and in vitro properties of the recombinant rabbit secretin receptor

The rabbit secretion receptor cDNA was cloned from rabbit pancreas using combined polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/rapid amplification of cDNA ends (PCR/RACE) approaches. The rabbit cDNA encoded 445 amino acids and had 80 and 85% homology with rat- and human receptor, respectively, in terms of nucleic and amino acid sequences. Several regions where the rabbit receptor sequence diverged from the rat/human receptor sequences were observed in the putative extracellular domains of the receptor. A cDNA coding for a similar sequence with a 76 bp deletion after the 5th transmembrane domain was also found; it probably encoded an inactive protein. The whole rabbit secretin receptor cDNA was subcloned in expression vector pCR3.1, then stably and transiently transfected in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The pharmacological properties of the rat and rabbit secretin receptor studies were compared by radiolabeled secretin binding, binding inhibition, and adenylate cyclase activation (using secretin analogs and fragments). Porcine secretin was equipotent with rabbit secretin on the rabbit secretin receptor, but fivefold more potent than rabbit secretin on the rat receptor. This was due to the serine-->arginine residue replacement, in position 16 of rabbit secretin. Amino terminal modified secretin analogs (secretin (2-27), [E3]secretin, [N3]secretin) and VIP were less potent than secretin on both secretin receptors, but more potent on the rabbit than on the rat receptor. The carboxy-terminally truncated fragment (1-26) had the same reduced potency on rat and rabbit receptors. Thus, the rabbit secretin receptor had original properties, different from those of the rat receptor.