[Glucagon receptors].

Abstract

Glucagon is a hormonal polypeptide secreted by the A cells of the endocrine pancreas. Its major physiological effects are stimulation of hepatic glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis. In this review, the current knowledge of receptors and transduction mechanisms involved in the action of glucagon are briefly presented. Receptors and/or an adenyl cyclase system sensitive to glucagon have been identified in the liver, adipocytes, B and D cells of the endocrine pancreas, heart, kidney and brain. In hepatocytes and cytoplasmic membranes of the liver, two populations of receptors with dissociation constants of the oder of 0.1-1 and 10-100 nM respectively have been described. High affinity receptors (10,000-50,000 sites per cell; 2 to 3 pmol/mg of membrane protein) represent approximately 1 to 10% of total receptors. A remarkable property of the glucagon-receptor interaction in the membrane is the decrease in its affinity which can be induced by guanyl nucleotides. Morphologically and biochemically, two events characterise the fate of the glucagon-receptor complex in the hepatocyte: endocytosis of the ligand, and probably the receptor, into an acid cellular compartment and degradation of the ligand. Two of the recently identified degradation products, correspond to sequences 4-29 and 1-13 of the peptide. The major functional consequence of occupation of the receptors is stimulation, via a regulatory protein Gs, of adenyl cyclase activity. More recently, two other effects have been discovered--stimulation of cellular mobilisation of calcium (secondary to an increase in inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate production) and inhibition of the calcium pump leading to an increase in free cytoplasmic calcium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)