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An orphan receptor discovered in 1993 was called bombesin receptor subtype 3 (BRS-3) because of 47-51% amino acid identity with bombesin (Bn) receptors. Its pharmacology is unknown, because no naturally occurring tissues have sufficient receptors to allow studies. ]Bn-(6 -14) bound to both cell lines with high affinity. Neither Bn nor 14 other naturally occurring Bn peptides bound to hBRS-3 with a K d <1000 nM. Twenty-six synthetic peptides that are high affinity agonists or antagonists at other bombesin receptors had an affinity >1000 nM. Guanosine 5-(␤,␥-imido)triphosphate inhibited binding to both cells due to a change in receptor affinity. These results demonstrate hBRS-3 has a unique pharmacology. It does not interact with high affinity with any known natural agonist or high affinity antagonist of the Bn receptor family, suggesting the natural ligand is either an undiscovered member of the Bn peptide family or an unrelated peptide. The availability of these cell lines and the hBRS-3 ligand should facilitate identification of the natural ligand for BRS-3, its pharmacology, and cell biology. We made two cell lines stably expressing the human BRS-3 (hBRS-3). hBRS-3 was overexpressed in the huRecently, an orphan receptor that is a member of the heptahelical superfamily of receptors was described in both human small cell lung cancer cells (1) and guinea pig uterus (2). Because this orphan receptor had a high degree of homology to mammalian bombesin receptors (i.e. 51-52% for the gastrinreleasing peptide receptor (GRP-R) 1 and 47% for the neuromedin B receptor (NMB-R) (1, 2)), it was named the BRS-3 for bombesin receptor subtype-3 in one study (1). Studies of the distribution of the receptor mRNA show that BRS-3 has a pattern of expression limited to rat secondary spermatocytes (1), guinea pig brain and pregnant uterus (2), and some tumor cell lines (various human small cell and non-small cell lung cancer cell lines (1), the human ductal breast cancer cell line T47D (3), and the human epidermal cancer cell line A431 (3)). However, the natural ligand that interacts with the BRS-3 is unknown, and its pharmacology is largely unknown because of the lack of a radioligand. In addition, little is known about the cellular basis of action of BRS-3 except that it is coupled to phospholipase C when expressed in Xenopus oocytes (1) or when transfected into Balb 3T3 cells (4). The ability to elucidate the pharmacology of the BRS-3 is not only limited by the lack of a radioligand but also by the lack of a cell containing native BRS-3 receptors in sufficient numbers to allow binding studies to identify a possible radioligand.To deal with this latter issue, in the present study we have used two different strategies to produce cell lines stably expressing the human BRS-3 (hBRS-3) receptor whose pharmacology and coupling will probably closely resemble that of the native hBRS-3. Furthermore, we have discovered a unique ligand that is a synthetic analogue of bombesin-(6 -14), which interacts with high affinity with the hBRS-3. With ...

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy is the single most sensitive method for imaging either primary or metastatic liver lesions in patients with the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Because of its sensitivity, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness, it should be the first imaging method used in these patients. For patients with negative results on somatostatin receptor scintigraphy, guidelines about the use of other imaging studies are proposed.

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