CHOLECYSTOKININ-93 - AN OVERVIEW OF THE STATE-OF-THE-ART

The goals of the CCK '93 conference, held on Cape Cod in May 1993, wer e to provide a forum for the exchange of information and to review acc omplishments in research since the last international meeting, which h ad been held in the United Kingdom in 1988. Some of the key highlights include: 1. Larger molecular forms of cholecystokinin, CCK58, do exis t, but the biosynthesis of CCK and its processing enzymes still need t o be defined, both in the gut endocrine I cell and cerebral and spinal CCK neurons. 2. The chemical structure of the commom amidated C-termi nus pentapeptide of CCK and gastrin has now been identified in several mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrates as part of a larger molecular form of peptide. This indicates that genes with different evolutionar y histories encode the CCK-like peptides in various species. 3. The st ructure of CCKA and CCKB receptors has been determined, and it is now accepted that the CCKB and gastrin receptors are the same; this is a g iant step that will help investigators unravel the puzzle of structure /function relationships. 4. Development of novel CCK analogs and 1st a nd 2d generation antagonists has contributed significance and, on some occasions, has even made us revise our concepts of the neurophysiolog y and neuropharmacology of CCR. 5. We have begun to appreciate the rol e CCK plays in its effect on human behavior (e.g., satiety, anxiety, p anic disorders, and schizophrenia), in addition to its regulatory role in gastrointestinal functions, and the role it plays in the sensory p athways in the gastric vagal afferent gut-brain axis.