Differential expression of the mouse cholecystokinin gene during brain and gut development.

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a neuropeptide found in brain and intestine. In this report, we have isolated a cDNA clone that encodes CCK from a mouse brain cDNA library. This cDNA clone has extensive homology to CCK precursors that have been sequenced previously. Southern blots of genomic DNA probed with this cDNA clone revealed single bands for each of eight different restriction enzymes, all of which could be accounted for by a single genomic clone, suggesting that the CCK gene is present as a single-copy gene in mice. RNA blots, primer extensions, and S1 nuclease protection assays have suggested that the same RNA start site is utilized in brain and in gut. Finally, we have shown, by using RNA blots and a radioimmunoassay specific for CCK, that CCK is expressed at maximum adult levels in intestine at birth but that adult concentrations of CCK and its mRNA are not reached in brain until much later in development.