Identification by specific radioimmunoassay of two novel peptides derived from the C-terminus of porcine preprogastrin

A radioimmunoassay has been developed using antibodies to a synthetic analogue of the C-terminal hexapeptide sequence of the porcine gastrin precursor. Boiling water extracts of porcine antral mucosa contained immunoreactive material that diluted in parallel with standard peptide. Concentrations of immunoreactivity were 5.5 +/- 0.8 nmol X g-1 (mean +/- S.E.M.) in antral mucosa and were closely similar to those of C-terminal heptadecapeptide gastrin immunoreactivity (5.0 +/- 0.6 nmol X g-1). Approximately 30-fold lower concentrations were found in porcine duodenum. A similar distribution was found in ferret, but human, rat and chicken antrum did not contain significant quantities of immunoreactivity. Gel filtration of porcine antral extracts on Sephadex G-50 revealed a single peak of immunoreactivity eluting in a similar position to G17, but on anion-exchange chromatography two peaks of immunoreactive material were separated. These also differed in their retention time on reverse phase HPLC. Both peptides are probably derived by tryptic cleavage at the C-terminus of porcine preprogastrin. No evidence was found to suggest that there are significant quantities of unprocessed preprogastrin in hog antral mucosa. The precise chemical difference between the two immunoreactive peptides identified here remains to be established; together, however, they provide specific markers for progastrin synthesis.