It is known that cholecystokinin (CCK) acts in a paracrine fashion to increase pancreatic exocrine secretion via vagal circuits. Recent evidence, however, suggests that CCK-8s actions are not restricted to afferent vagal fibers, but also affect brain stem structures directly. Within the brain stem, preganglionic neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) send efferent fibers to subd...

Digital-imaging microscopy of Fura-2-loaded pancreatic acinar cells revealed that the C-terminal octapeptide of cholecystokinin (CCKe) dose-dependently recruited 94% of freshly isolated acinar cells in terms of receptor-evoked Ca2+ mobilization. Maximal and half-maximal cell-recruitment were reached with 0.1 nM and 16.8 pM CCKe, respectively. The upstroke of the dose-recruitment curve consisted...

The cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor types A and B (CCKAR and CCKBR) are G protein-coupled receptors with approximately 50% amino acid identity; both have high affinity for the sulfated CCK octapeptide (CCK-8), whereas only the CCKBR has high affinity for gastrin. Previously, we identified five amino acids in the second extracellular loop (ECL) of the CCKBR that were essential for gastrin selecti...

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is widely distributed in the brain as a sulfated octapeptide (CCK-8S). In the olfactory bulb, CCK-8S is concentrated in two laminae: an infraglomerular band in the external plexiform layer, and an inframitral band in the internal plexiform layer (IPL), corresponding to somata and terminals of superficial tufted cells with intrabulbar projections linking duplicate glomerula...

Using whole cell patch clamp in thin brain stem slices, we tested the effects of cholecystokinin (CCK) on identified gastric-projecting neurons of the rat dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV). Perfusion with the sulfated form of CCK octapeptide (CCK8s, 30 pM-300 nM, EC50 approximately 4 nM) induced a concentration-dependent inward current in 35 and 41% of corpus- and antrum/pylorus-projectin...