Isolation and characterization of a variant somatostatin-14 and two related somatostatins of 34 and 37 residues from lamprey (Petromyzon marinus).

Three major forms of somatostatin were isolated from pancreas of the lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). One of the two major forms is a 14-residue somatostatin (SS-14) having the sequence AGCKNFFWKTFSSC. The homologous substitution Ser for Thr in position 12 is the first example of SS-14 from vertebrate preprosomatostatin gene I having a divergent sequence. The longest form is 37 residues in length (SS-37) and has the sequence ALRAAAVAGSPQQLLPLGQRERKAGCKNFFWKTFSSC. A 34-residue form (SS-34) identical in sequence but truncated at a single Arg residue at position 3 of SS-37 was also isolated. The yields of the three forms were SS-37 (0.43 nmol/g), SS-34 (134 nmol/g), and SS-14 (51.5 nmol/g). The identification of this nested series of somatostatins suggests that prosomatostatin processing in lamprey more closely resembles that observed for procholecystokinin than that of mammalian or other piscine prosomatostatins. Somatostatin-producing cells in the lamprey pancreas were identified by immunostaining using antiserum against SS-34 and anti-serum against mammalian SS-14.