Abstract

Previous studies have shown that at least two subtypes of somatostatin (SRIF) receptors (SRIF1 and SRIF2) are expressed in mammalian cells. SRIF1 receptors have high affinity for MK 678, whereas SRIF2 receptors have no affinity for MK 678 but selectively bind peptides with structures similar to that of CGP 23996. Recently, two SRIF receptor genes have been cloned from human and mouse genomic libraries. In the present study, the pharmacological properties of these two cloned SRIF receptors, expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, were investigated, to determine whether they have any similarity to the previously described SRIF1 and SRIF2 receptor subtypes. Both cloned receptors could be labeled with 125I-Tyr11-SRIF and exhibited high affinity for SRIF. The SSTR1 receptor could also bind CGP 23996-like compounds but not MK 678. In contrast, the SSTR2 receptor was insensitive to CGP 23996-like compounds but bound MK 678 with high affinity. These findings indicate that the peptide specificities of the cloned SSTR1 and SSTR2 receptors differ from each other. Pretreatment of CHO cells expressing the two cloned SRIF receptors with SRIF abolished high affinity agonist binding to the cloned SSTR2 receptor but not the cloned SSTR1 receptor. Agonist binding to SSTR1 receptors was not significantly affected by guanosine-5'-)-(3-thiotriphosphate) or pertussis toxin pretreatment, whereas agonist binding to SSTR2 receptors was inhibited by both treatments. These findings suggest that SSTR2 receptors can be regulated and they associate with pertussis toxin-sensitive guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, whereas SSTR1 receptors do not. SRIF is a potent inhibitor of adenylyl cyclase activity in mammalian cells. However, neither the cloned SSTR2 nor SSTR1 receptor mediated SRIF inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity in stably transformed CHO cells or COS-1 cells transiently expressing the cloned receptors, suggesting that neither cloned receptor couples to adenylyl cyclase. The results of these studies indicate that the two cloned SRIF receptors have different pharmacological properties. The characteristics of the cloned SSTR2 receptor are similar to those of the previously described SRIF1 receptor, and the characteristics of the cloned SSTR1 receptor are similar to those of the previously described SRIF2 receptor.