Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 14, 2023; 29(38): 5374-5382
Published online Oct 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i38.5374
Expression and functional study of cholecystokinin-A receptors on the interstitial Cajal-like cells of the guinea pig common bile duct
Dan Xu, Song-Lin Ma, Man-Lin Huang, Heng Zhang
Dan Xu, Song-Lin Ma, Man-Lin Huang, Heng Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, Hubei Province, China
Dan Xu, Song-Lin Ma, Man-Lin Huang, Heng Zhang, Key Laboratory for Molecular Diagnosis of Hubei Province, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, Hubei Province, China
Co-first authors: Dan Xu and Song-Lin Ma.
Author contributions: Xu D and Ma SL contributed equally to this work and are co-first authors, including design of the study, acquiring and analyzing data from experiments, and writing of the actual manuscript. Xu D, Ma SL, and Zhang H conceived and designed the experiments, wrote the paper, contributed to the statistical analysis; Xu D, Ma SL, Huang ML, and Zhang H performed the experiments; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All experiments were conducted in accordance with the institutional guidelines of the Central Hospital of Wuhan for the care and use of laboratory animals.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Heng Zhang, PhD, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 26 Shengli Street, Jiang’an District, Wuhan 430014, Hubei Province, China. xqzr@sohu.com
Received: July 27, 2023
Peer-review started: July 27, 2023
First decision: August 8, 2023
Revised: September 16, 2023
Accepted: September 26, 2023
Article in press: September 26, 2023
Published online: October 14, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Many studies have shown that interstitial Cajal-like cell (ICLC) abnormalities are closely related to a variety of dynamic gastrointestinal disorders. ICLCs are pacemaker cells for gastrointestinal movement and are involved in the transmission of nerve impulses.

AIM

To elucidate the expression profile and significance of cholecystokinin-A (CCK-A) receptors in ICLCs in the common bile duct (CBD), as well as the role of CCK in regulating CBD motility through CCK-A receptors on CBD ICLCs.

METHODS

The levels of tyrosine kinase receptor (c-kit) and CCK-A receptors in CBD tissues and isolated CBD cells were quantified using the double immunofluorescence labeling technique. The CCK-mediated enhancement of the movement of CBD muscle strips through CBD ICLCs was observed by a muscle strip contraction test.

RESULTS

Immunofluorescence showed co-expression of c-kit and CCK-A receptors in the CBD muscularis layer. Observations of isolated CBD cells showed that c-kit was expressed on the surface of ICLCs, the cell body and synapse were colored and polygonal, and some cells presented protrusions and formed networks adjacent to the CBD while others formed filaments at the synaptic terminals of local cells. CCK-A receptors were also expressed on CBD ICLCs. At concentrations ranging from 10-6 mol/L to 10-10 mol/L, CCK promoted CBD smooth muscle contractility in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, after ICLC removal, the contractility mediated by CCK in CBD smooth muscle decreased.

CONCLUSION

CCK-A receptors are highly expressed on CBD ICLCs, and CCK may regulate CBD motility through the CCK-A receptors on ICLCs.

Keywords: Interstitial Cajal-like cells, Tyrosine kinase receptor, Common bile duct, Cholecystokinin-A receptors

Core Tip: Interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLCs) are pacemaker cells for gastrointestinal movement and are involved in the transmission of nerve impulses. This projects intends to elucidate the expression profiling and significance of cholecystokinin-A (CCK-A) receptors in ICLCs of common bile duct (CBD), as well as the role of CCK in regulating CBD motility through CCK-A receptors on CBD ICLCs.