Localization of somatostatin receptor subtype mRNA in the rat gastrointestinal tract and regulation of SSTR1 gene expression

Somatostatin and its receptors are widely distributed in the central nervous system and peripheral tissues including those of the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract). The expression patterns of the five known SSTR genes have been analysed in detail by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction amplifications and in situ hybridizations using tissues dissected from different parts of rat stomach and gut. While SSTR1 mRNA is present at relatively high amounts throughout the gastrointestinal tract, the levels of SSTR2, 3 and 4 mRNAs vary in different regions and SSTR5 mRNA has not been detected. In situ hybridizations revealed the presence of SSTR3 mRNA in enterocytes and in neurons of the myenteric and submucous plexus. These findings are consistent with a role of SSTR3 in the observed somatostatin-mediated inhibition of acetylcholine release from myenteric neurons and of secretomotor neuron activity in the submucous plexus. Sequence analyses of the SSTR1 gene promoter revealed the absence of the canonical TATA and CAAT motifs and the presence of a variety of potential binding sites for transcriptional regulators. Among these are binding sites for GCF, AP-2, AP-4, response elements for somatostatin (SOM-RE), epidermal growth factor (EGF-RE) and cytocines (GAS and NFIL) as well as for tissue-specific factors such as Pit-1 (pituitary) and IDX-1 (pancreatic cells). Mobility shift assays have confirmed that nuclear proteins of pancreatic RIN1046-38 and pituitary GH(3) tumour cells bind to oligonucleotides containing the overlapping Pit-1 and IDX-1 binding sites. Thus, the Pit-1/IDX-1 sites may be critical for the activation of the SSTR1 gene in these cell-types.