The effects of s analgus RC-160and SMS-201-995 on tyrosine phosphatase and cell proliferation were investigated in COS-7 and NIH 3T3 cells expressing human somatostatin receptor subtype 1 or 2 (SSTR1 or SSTR2 antagonize the mitogenic effect of growth factors acting on tyrosine kinase receptors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (9-11). Furthermore, these analogues have been found to stimulate tyrosine phosphatase activity in normal and tumoral pancreatic cells (9,(12)(13)(14)(15) and to activate the dephosphorylation of EGF receptor (9, 16). The ability of somatostatin analogues to stimulate tyrosine phosphatase correlates with their inhibitory effect on pancreatic cell growth, and this correlation supports the hypothesis that the growth inhibition is mediated by dephosphorylation of tyrosine protein signals. Somatostatin analogues might suppress tumor growth by reversing the stimulatory effect of EGF on phosphorylation of EGF receptor tyrosine kinase and EGF-phosphorylated proteins (17). We also observed that a membrane tyrosine phosphatase is coeluted with somatostatin receptor, suggesting that tyrosine phosphatase may be a part ofthe signal transduction pathway promoted by somatostatin receptor occupancy (16).The somatostatin receptor subtypes and the molecular mechanism involved in the tyrosine phosphatase stimulation have been, until now, unknown (18, 19). We must better understand what physiological response every subtype elicits, how their signals are processed in the cell, and in what normal and/or pathological tissues each is expressed to choose the appropriate analogue for targeting to specific cells for therapeutic use.In the present study, we examined the effects of two somatostatin analogues, RC-160 and SMS, on binding and signal transduction pathways of the two human cloned somatostatin receptor subtypes hSSTR1 and hSSTR2 transiently expressed in COS-7 cells. We also investigated the 2315The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Several analogues of somatostatin were examined in the Mia PaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer cell line for their ability to promote tyrosine phosphatase activity affecting the receptors for the epidermal growth factor. The inhibition of growth of the Mia PaCa-2 cells in culture was also evaluated to determine the mechanism of action of somatostatin analogues and their relative effectiveness in inhibiting cancer growth. Of the analogues tested D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-LysVal-Cys-Trp-NH2 (RC-160) caused the greatest stimulation of tyrosine phosphatase activity. Analogue D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-DTrp-Lys-Val-Cys-Thr-NH2 (RC-121) had less effect but was more potent than somatostatin-14. Analogue D-Phe-Cys-Phe-DTrp-Lys-Thr-Cys-Thr(ol) (SMS 201-995) produced no significant dephosphorylation. The analogues displayed the same order of activity in assays on growth inhibition of Mia PaCa-2 cells in cultures. Analogue (SMS-201-995) caused virtually no tyrosine phosphatase stimulation or growth inhibition in this cancer cell line, although it possesses a much higher antisecretory activity than somatostatin-14 in normal tissues. These observations indicate that somatostatin and some of its analogues can act as growth inhibitors in cancer cells through the activation of tyrosine phosphatase. These data reinforce the view that somatostatin analogue RC-160 and related compounds could be used for treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The traditional understanding is that an entirely new complement of digestive enzymes is secreted by the pancreas into the small intestines with each meal. This is thought to be necessary because, like food itself, these enzymes are degraded during digestion. In this review we discuss experiments that bring this point of view into question. They suggest that digestive enzymes can be absorbed into blood, reaccumulated by the pancreas, and reutilized, instead of being reduced to their constituent amino acids in the intestines. This is called an enteropancreatic circulation of digestive enzymes.

Analogues of somatostatin (SS) and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH)

The exocrine pancreas and certain salivary glands of mammals secrete a variety of enzymes into the gastrointestinal tract, where they digest food. The same glands also release these enzymes into the bloodstream. This latter process has commonly been assumed to occur solely as the result of a pathological condition or as an inadvertent by-product of exocrine secretion due to the leakage of trace quantities of the enzymes into blood. However, a variety of evidence suggests that the endocrine secretion of digestive enzymes is a normal occurrence that can be of substantial magnitude in healthy individuals, is responsive to various physiological stimuli, and is distinct from exocrine secretion. Recent research has focused attention on this process as a promising means for the delivery of engineered proteins into the systemic circulation for pharmaceutical purposes. In this review, we survey research in this area and consider the evidence for the existence of an endocrine secretion of digestive enzymes, the cause of enzyme release into the bloodstream, its source within the tissue, and, finally, the physiological purposes that this secretion process might serve.