Molecular cloning of a somatostatin-28 receptor and comparison of its expression pattern with that of a somatostatin-14 receptor in rat brain.

The tetradecapeptide somatotropin-release inhibiting factor somatostatin-14 regulates the release of peptide hormones and also functions as neurotransmitter. The octacosapeptide somatostatin-28, the N-terminally extended form of somatostatin-14, shows similar biological activities yet with different potencies. Both peptides most likely function through distinct receptors. Here we report on the molecular and functional characterization of a somatostatin-28 receptor (SSR-28) cloned from a rat brain cDNA library. The nucleotide sequence contains an open reading frame for a protein of 428 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 47 kDa. Binding assays using radiolabeled somatostatin-14 and membranes from COS cells transfected with the cloned cDNA show that this receptor, SSR-28, has a higher binding affinity for somatostatin-28 (IC50 = 0.24 nM) than for somatostatin-14 (IC50 = 0.89 nM). RNA blot analysis reveals a 4.4-kilobase mRNA in rat cerebellum and at significantly lower abundance in other brain regions. In situ hybridization indicates that SSR-28 mRNA is present in the granular and Purkinje cell layers of the cerebellum and in the large cells of the hypoglossal nucleus of the brain stem. Signals for SSR-28 mRNA do not overlap with those of a previously cloned rat receptor that preferentially binds somatostatin-14 (SSR-14). SSR-14 mRNA is found in the medial cerebellar nucleus, horizontal limb of the diagonal band, various hypothalamic nuclei, and in layers IV and V of the cortex. In the rat cerebellum, SSR-14 and SSR-28 mRNAs are developmentally regulated; the levels of the former are highest around birth and levels of the latter are highest at the adult stage.