Contemporary developments in the biochemistry of the gastrointestinal hormones

Isolation of a low-molecular-weight antibacterial system from human amniotic fluid

A low-molecular-weight antibacterial system has been isolated from human amniotic fluid. The bacterial inhibitor requires the metal cation zinc and a peptide with a molecular weight of 630. The peptide component was purified using ultrafiltration, gel filtration, and ion-exchange chromatography. It can be inactivated by digestion with carboxypeptidase. The amino acid composition of the peptide is: 3 glutamine-glutamic acid, 2 glycine, and 1 lysine. Removal of zinc from the peptide has been shown to remove bacterial inhibitory activity.

The effect of glucagon on the liver cell membrane potential

1. Intracellular recordings of membrane potential were made from superficial cells of isolated mouse liver segments superfused with physiological salt solutions.2. The mean resting cell membrane potential was -39.4 mV.3. Glucagon caused a dose-dependent membrane hyperpolarization which was detectable at 10(-9)M and maximal (7 mV) at 10(-7)M. The hyperpolarization started within half a minute after exposure to glucagon. Secretion (2 x 10(-7)M) had no effect on the membrane potential.4. Adrenaline (10(-6)M) and isoprenaline (10(-6)M) also caused membrane hyperpolarization (4-6 mV). The effect of isoprenaline, but not that of adrenaline, was blocked by propranolol (5 x 10(-6)M).5. Dibutyryl adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (10(-3)M) caused a membrane hyperpolarization of 4-8 mV.6. In the absence of extracellular K or the presence of Strophanthin-G (10(-3)M) the resting potential was decreased and the response to glucagon reduced. During exposure to a solution containing 20 mM-K the resting potential was slightly enhanced and the amplitude of the glucagon-induced hyperpolarization reduced compared with control conditions.7. It is concluded that the effect of glucagon on the membrane potential is due to an interaction with specific membrane receptors probably leading to activation of the membrane-bound adenyl cyclase. It is probable that the hyperpolarization is mediated by cyclic AMP. The hyperpolarization induced by glucagon is dependent on a normal function of the membrane Na-K pump.

A micropuncture investigation of the whole tissue mechanism of electrolyte secretion by the in vitro rabbit pancreas

Micropuncture techniques have been used to examine electrolyte secretion by the in vitro rabbit pancreas. The concentration profiles of the major secreted ions and digestive protein and the electrical potential profile within the pancreatic ductal system have been determined during spontaneous and secretin-stimulated secretion. The active transport of both Na and HCO(3) are the rate-controlling steps in primary secretion. Spontaneous secretion is produced primarily within the intralobular ducts. The anion composition of this primary secretion depends on the secretion rate with HCO(3) ranging from about 70 meq/liter at low rates to about 110 meq/liter at high rates. With secretin stimulation the smaller extralobular ducts also secrete and this extralobular secretion has a higher HCO(2) content than that of the intralobular secretion. In the main collecting duct the anion composition of the juice is modified further by Cl-HCO(3) exchange which appears to be a passive process depending on the average residence time of the juice in the main duct.

The reaction of glucagon with its receptor: evidence for discrete regions of activity and binding in the glucagon molecule

Des-histidine-glucagon (DH-glucagon, glucagon(2-29)) does not activate the glucagon-sensitive adenylate cyclase system present in either liver plasma membranes or in fat-cell "ghosts", but inhibits the response of these systems to submaximal concentrations of glucagon. DH-glucagon also inhibits, competitively, the binding of [(125)I]glucagon to its receptor in liver plasma membranes. Amino-terminal fragments of glucagon (glucagon(1-21), glucagon(1-23)) and carboxy-terminal fragments (glucagon(20-29), glucagon(22-29)) failed to activate adenylate cyclase, to inhibit the response of the enzyme to glucagon, or to compete with labeled glucagon at its receptor. It is concluded that the amino-terminal histidine residue of glucagon is essential for biological activity and that a hydrophobic near-carboxy-terminal region (residues 22-27) is essential for binding of glucagon to its receptor. Amino-terminal histidine may also contribute to the binding of glucagon, since the apparent affinity of DH-glucagon for the receptor is only about one-sixth that of glucagon. Thus, essentially the entire molecule of glucagon must be considered to be the biologically active species.Because, as shown elsewhere, the binding of glucagon to its receptor shows characteristics of hydrophobic bonding, and because certain detergents induce conformational changes in the carboxy-terminal binding region of glucagon, the binding is probably of a lipophilic type.

Enzymatic inactivation of peptide hormones possessing a C-terminal amide group

A partially purified enzyme extracted from the bladder of the toad, Bufo marinus L., was found to cleave the glycine amide moiety from oxytocin, 8-lysine-vasopressin, 8-arginine-vasopressin, and other hormone analogs terminating in a primary carboxamide group; however, this enzyme does not attack hormone analogs terminating with a methylamide, dimethylamide, or carboxyl group. Preliminary experiments indicate that a functionally similar enzyme is also present in the mammalian kidney, the major target organ of neurohypophyseal antidiuretic hormones. This enzyme, besides inactivating oxytocin and 8-lysine-vasopressin, also cleaves the phenylalanine amide moiety from a tetrapeptide analog of gastrin, another hormone terminating in a primary carboxamide group. Attention is drawn to the possible general significance of "carboxamidopeptidases" for the termination of the action of peptide hormones in which the C-terminal amino acid residue bears a carboxamide group.