Structure and activity of uroguanylin and guanylin from the intestine and urine of rats. Fan, Xiaohui, F. Kent Hamra, Roslyn M. London, Sammy L. Eber, William J. Krause, Ronald H. Freeman, Christine E. Smith, Mark G. Currie, and Leonard R. Forte. The Truman VA Medical Center and Departments of Pharmacology, Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, and Physiology, School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65212 and Searle Research and Development, St. Louis, MO 63167
APStracts 4:0175E, 1997.
Uroguanylin and guanylin are related peptides that activate common guanylate cyclase signaling molecules in the intestine and kidney. Uroguanylin was isolated from urine and duodenum, but was not detected in extracts from the colon of rats. Guanylin was identified in extracts from small and large intestine, whereas guanylin was not detected in urine. Uroguanylin and guanylin have distinct biochemical and chromatographic properties that facilitated the separation, purification and identification of these peptides. Northern assays revealed that mRNA transcripts for uroguanylin were most abundant in small intestine compared to large intestine, while guanylin mRNA levels were greatest in large intestine relative to small intestine. Synthetic rat uroguanylin and guanylin had similar potencies in the activation of receptors in T84 intestinal cells. Production of uroguanylin and guanylin in the mucosa of duodenum is consistent with the postulate that both peptides influence the activity of an intracellular cGMP signaling pathway that regulates the transepithelial secretion of chloride and bicarbonate in the intestinal epithelium.

Received 14 March 1997; accepted in final form 30 July 1997.
APS Manuscript Number E109-7.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Endocrinol. Metab.).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1997 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 27 August 1997