Localization of cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity in isolated nerve terminals.

Subcellular fractionation of the rat cerebral cortex demonstrated the presence of immunoreactive cholecystokinin in the pellet identified by electron microscopy as containing a high proportion of synaptic vesicles. The recovery in this pellet of 40% of the total immunoreactivity in the initial cortical extract is quite comparable to the recovery of other peptides such as vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and somatostatin, which are also located in synaptosomes and for which roles as neuroregulators or transmitters have been suggested. The evidence of concentration of cholecystokinin-like peptides in the synaptosomal pellet is consistent with our earlier demonstration by immunohistochemical techniques of cholecystokinin's presence in rabbit cerebral cortical neurons. These observations and the evidence for diminished concentration of cholecystokinin-like peptides in the brains of hyperphagic mice are consistent with cholecystolinin's suggested role as a neuroregulator for appetite.