Molecular cloning, expression and pharmacological characterization of the canine cholecystokinin 1 receptor

1 The full-length, canine cholecystokinin 1 (CCK1) receptor was cloned from gallbladder tissue using RT-PCR with a combination of primers designed to interact with conserved regions of the human and rat CCK1 receptor, which also shared homology with the canine genomic sequence. 2 Analysis of the sequence of the canine CCK1 receptor revealed a 1287 base pair product, which encoded a 429 amino-acid protein. This protein was 89% identical to the human and 85% identical to the rat CCK1 receptor. 3 The canine CCK1 receptor was expressed in CHO-K cells for pharmacological characterization. In competition studies, using [(125)I]BH-CCK-8S as radioligand, the affinity values estimated for CCK receptor-selective compounds were not significantly different between the canine and human CCK1 receptors (pK(I)+/-s.e.m. at canine CCK1 receptor; L-364,718=8.82+/-0.08, L-365,260=6.61+/-0.05, YF476=7.91+/-0.15, YM022=8.28+/-0.06 and dexloxiglumide=7.53+/-0.11). Furthermore, the selectivity of these compounds between canine CCK1 and CCK2 receptors was consistent with the selectivity between the human CCK1 and CCK2 receptors. 4 Two additional forms of the canine CCK1 receptor were identified during the cloning procedure. These had three (variant #1) and six (variant #2) amino-acid differences from the wild-type canine CCK1 receptor. Variant #1 bound [(125)I]BH-CCK-8S and displayed an identical pharmacological profile to the wild-type receptor using the ligands described above. No significant binding was measured with variant #2. 5 In conclusion, we have cloned and pharmacologically characterized the canine CCK1 receptor. The data obtained will facilitate the interpretation of numerous pharmacological experiments that have been performed using canine tissue to elucidate the actions of CCK and gastrin.