Acinar cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors in the exocrine pancreas of the rat: effect of adrenalectomy.

The binding of [125I]BH-CCK-8 to membranes of acinar cells from rats at 6 and 21 days after adrenalectomy was studied. The optimum conditions of time and temperature were previously established as being 120 min and 30 degrees C. Under these conditions, the membranes of the adrenalectomized animals of both groups (6 and 21 days) bound more radioligand than those from control rats. However, a qualitative study of the binding showed that the affinities of binding were much lower; in particular, the high affinity receptors had a Kd of 0.94 +/- 0.33 nM in the controls and this was 14.9 +/- 1.29 nM in the 6-day adrenalectomized animals, although the maximum binding capacity did not vary significantly. However, in the case of the low affinity receptors, there was a gradual increase in the maximum binding capacity as the time after adrenalectomy progressed: 717 +/- 121, 1,987 +/- 183, and 10,175 +/- 862 fmol/mg for the control, 6-day, and 21-day adrenalectomized rats, respectively. In the latter situation, the high affinity receptors completely disappeared. These results, which coincide with a marked deficit in protein secretion already described in adrenalectomized rats, can be accounted for in terms of the possible negative cooperativity exerted by the low affinity receptors on the high affinity hormone-receptor complex, the protein secretion of the acinar cells normally mediated by the high affinity receptors becoming paralyzed.