The wall of the gut responds to an impressive array of signals originating in the lumen, including nutrient and non-nutrient chemicals, mechanical factors, and micro-organisms. The idea that the gut wall exhibits luminal chemo-sensitivity is implied in the original discovery of secretin by Bayliss and Starling, and has become an integral part of models of neurohumoral control of gastrointestinal function. Entero-endocrine cells are specialised for luminal nutrient sensing but sub-epithelial nerve fibres may also respond to luminal chemicals that freely diffuse across the epithelium eg short chain fatty acids. The molecular recognition mechanisms include G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) eg the extracellular Ca(2+) sensing receptor which also responds to aromatic amino acids. There are also GPCRs sensing fatty acids, as well as bitter or noxious compounds. In addition, though, gating of ion channels including events secondary to energy availability eg ATP, may be involved in sensing some luminal chemicals. There is likely to be integration of luminal signals at several levels including at the level of entero-endocrine cells and at sub-epithelial nerve fibers. For example, the intestinal hormone CCK acts on primary afferent nerve fibers of the vagal trunk. The same fibers also express leptin receptors that are thought to respond to leptin released from gastric chief cells, orexin receptors (activation of which inhibits CCK) and possibly ghrelin receptors. Multiple signalling mechanisms allow specific responses to be matched to meals of differing content. (+info)
Luminal CCK and its neuronal action on exocrine pancreatic secretion.
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Gut regulatory peptides are produced by mucosal endocrine cells and released both into the circulation as well as into the gut lumen. Following stimulation the distribution between the circulation and gut lumen changes in favor of the gut lumen. In the blood plasma, the biological half-life of gut regulatory peptides is counted in single minutes due to high aminopeptidase activity and liver extraction. In the gut lumen, however, regulatory peptides retain their biological activity much longer, especially in newborn and young animals. A series of studies was performed in neonatal calves and pigs to explore the role of luminal cholecystokinin (CCK) on the regulation of exocrine pancreatic secretion. In anaesthetized neonatal calves, CCK was secreted into the duodenal lumen, and electrical vagal stimulation increased CCK release into the duodenal lumen but not into the circulating blood. In conscious calves, luminal CCK-8 stimulated pancreatic protein secretion by a neurohormonal mechanism dependent on a duodenal mucosal CCK1 receptor and vagal nerve activity. Immunocytochemistry pointed to an association of mucosal CCK1 and CCK2 receptors with neuronal components in the small intestine of neonatal calves. Experiments in calves and pigs with CCK-8 infusions into the duodenal branches of the right gastroepiploic artery confirmed the results of luminal CCK-8 and questioned the physiological relevance of a direct mechanism of CCK on the pancreatic acini. (+info)
Neurogenin 3-expressing progenitor cells in the gastrointestinal tract differentiate into both endocrine and non-endocrine cell types.
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Mice deficient for the transcription factor neurogenin 3 (ngn3) fail to develop endocrine cells in the intestine and pancreas and show partial endocrine differentiation in the stomach. We expressed Cre recombinase under control of a ngn3 BAC to achieve high fidelity cell lineage tracing in vivo to determine whether endocrine cells in these organs differentiate from NGN3+ precursor cells. Our results indicate that all small intestinal enteroendocrine cells arise from ngn3-expressing cells and confirm that NGN3+ cells give rise to all pancreatic endocrine cells as noted previously. By examining mice at a developmental stage when all of the cell types in the stomach have differentiated, we have delineated region-associated differences in endocrine differentiation. A much smaller fraction of endocrine cells populating the acid-producing region of the stomach is derived from NGN3+ precursor in contrast to the antral-pyloric region. Unexpectedly, ngn3 is expressed in cells that adopt non-endocrine cell fates including significant fractions of goblet and Paneth cells in the intestine and a small number of duct and acinar cells in the pancreas. Rarely, ngn3 was expressed in pluripotent cells in intestinal crypts with resultant labeling of an entire crypt-villus unit. Thus, ngn3 expression occurs in mixed populations of immature cells that are not irreversibly committed to endocrine differentiation. (+info)
An immunohistochemical study of the gastrointestinal endocrine cells in the ddY mice.
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The distributions and frequencies of some endocrine cells in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of ddY mice were studied with immunohistochemical method using 7 types of antisera against bovine chromogranin (BCG), serotonin, gastrin, cholecystokinin (CCK)-8, somatostatin, glucagon and human pancreatic polypeptide (HPP). All of 7 types of immunoreactive (IR) cells were identified. Most of IR cells in the intestinal portion were generally spherical or spindle in shape (open typed cell) while cells showing round in shape (close typed cell) were found in the intestinal gland and stomach regions occasionally. Their relative frequencies were varied according to each portion of GI tract. BCG-IR cells were demonstrated throughout whole GI tract except for the cecum and they were most predominant in the fundus and pylorus. Serotonin-IR cells were detected throughout whole GI tract and they were most predominant cell types in this species of mice. Gastrin-IR cells were restricted to the pylorus and CCK-8-IR cells were demonstrated in the pylorus, duodenum and jejunum with numerous frequencies in the pylorus. Somatostatin-IR cells were detected throughout whole GI tract except for the cecum and rectum and they showed more numerous frequencies in the stomach regions. In addition, glucagon-IR cells were restricted to the fundus, duodenum and jejunum with rare frequencies, and HPP-IR cells were restricted to the rectum only with rare frequency. In conclusion, some strain-dependent unique distributional patterns of gastrointestinal endocrine cells were found in GI tract of ddY mice. (+info)
Retinoic acid signaling is essential for pancreas development and promotes endocrine at the expense of exocrine cell differentiation in Xenopus.
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How and when the vertebrate endoderm is first subdivided into discrete progenitor cell populations that will give rise to the different major organs, including pancreas and liver, are only poorly understood. We have used Xenopus laevis as a model system to characterize these events, since it is particularly suited to study the early embryonic patterning in vertebrates. Our experimental results support the notion that retinoic acid (RA) functions as an essential endodermal patterning signal in Xenopus and that it acts as early as during gastrulation. As a result of RA treatment, the expression of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), a known inhibitor of pancreas development in other vertebrate systems, is negatively regulated in the dorsal prepancreatic endoderm. Furthermore, RA is found to promote endocrine at the expense of exocrine differentiation in the dorsal pancreas, correlating with a specific inhibition of Notch signaling activities in this territory. Conversely, RA enhances exocrine marker gene expression in the ventral pancreas. (+info)
Enteroendocrine cells and 5-HT availability are altered in mucosa of guinea pigs with TNBS ileitis.
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Enteroendocrine cells act as sensory transducers, releasing 5-HT and numerous peptides that are involved in regulating motility, secretion, and gut sensation. The action of mucosal 5-HT is terminated by a 5-HT reuptake transporter (SERT). In this study, we examined the hypothesis that ileitis leads to changes in enteroendocrine cell populations and mucosal 5-HT availability. Ileitis was induced in guinea pigs by intraluminal injection of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid and experiments were conducted 3, 7, and 14 days after treatment. The number of somatostatin, neurotensin, and 5-HT-immunoreactive cells increased at 3 and 7 days of ileitis, respectively, whereas no significant changes in the numbers of cholecystokinin, glucagon-like peptide-2, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, and peptide YY-immunoreactive cells were observed. Chemical stimulation of the inflamed mucosa with sodium deoxycholic acid significantly increased 5-HT release compared with basal release. Mechanical stimulation of the mucosa potentiated the effect of the chemical stimuli at day 7. Epithelial SERT immunoreactivity was significantly reduced during the time course of inflammation. Thus changes in enteroendocrine cell populations and 5-HT availability could contribute to the altered motility and secretion associated with intestinal inflammation by disrupting mucosal signaling to enteric nerves involved in peristaltic and secretory reflexes. (+info)
Lack of histamine alters gastric mucosal morphology: comparison of histidine decarboxylase-deficient and mast cell-deficient mice.
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Histamine plays an important role in the regulation of gastric acid secretion; however, its role in maintenance of gastric morphology remains unclear. To clarify the necessity of histamine for gastric mucosal development and maintenance, we evaluated two different kinds of mice that lacked either mast cells (one of the gastric histamine-producing cell types) or histidine decarboxylase (HDC; a histamine-synthesizing enzyme). Measurements of stomach weight, intragastric pH, mucosal histamine levels, as well as serum gastrin and albumin levels were performed in mice. Gastric mucosal appearance was examined by immunohistochemical techniques. Although gastric mucosal histamine levels in mast cell-deficient mice were half of those observed in the wild-type mice, intragastric pH, serum gastrin levels, and gastric morphology at 12 mo were unchanged compared with the wild-type mice. In contrast, HDC-deficient mice possessed no detectable gastric histamine, but did exhibit hypergastrinemia, as well as marked increases in intragastric pH and stomach weight compared with the wild-type mice. Histological analysis revealed that 9-mo-old HDC-deficient mice demonstrated hyperplasia in the oxyntic glandular base region, as well as increased numbers of parietal and enterochromaffin-like cells. These results indicate that enterochromaffin-like cell-derived histamine is potentially involved in gastric mucosal morphology regulation. (+info)
Cellular detection of sst2A receptors in human gastrointestinal tissue.
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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Many neuroendocrine gastrointestinal tumours express receptors for the regulatory peptide somatostatin. Among the five existing somatostatin receptor (sst) subtypes, sst2A is the most frequently expressed in these tumours. However, little information is available about the cellular location of sst2A in corresponding non-neoplastic epithelial tissues. METHODS: We searched for sst2A immunoreactive cells in non-neoplastic gastrointestinal tissues, and evaluated their number and immunohistochemical characteristics with neuroendocrine markers. RESULTS: The gastric antrum showed numerous sst2A cells, situated in the epithelium, corresponding to gastrin containing neuroendocrine cells, while the gastric corpus was largely devoid of sst2A cells, including enterochromaffin-like cells. The remaining foregut, namely the duodenum and proximal jejunum, also contained a large number of sst2A cells, all being neuroendocrine cells and many of them characterised as gastrin cells. Sst2A cells were also detected in the midgut, in low numbers in the epithelium of the distal jejunum and ileum, but not in the appendix vermiformis, the caecum, or the hindgut, despite the large number of neuroendocrine cells present in this area. In addition, sst2A cells were found in the whole gastrointestinal tract in the myenteric and submucosal plexus. CONCLUSIONS: While sst2A receptors on antral gastrin cells presumably mediate somatostatin inhibition of gastrin secretion, the effects of somatostatin on motility and ion transport in the lower gastrointestinal tract may be mediated by sst2A receptors in the neural plexus. These data provide a molecular basis for the physiological actions of somatostatin in human gastrointestinal tissue. (+info)