Glucagon-like peptide-I(GLP-I), encoded by the glucagon gene and released from the gut in response to nutrients, is a potent stimulator of glucose-induced insulin secretion. In human subjects GLP-I exerts its physiological effect as an incretin. The incretin effect of GLP-I is preserved in patients with Type II diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), suggesting that GLP-I receptor agonist can be used therapeutically in this group of patients. In these studies we addressed the question of whether GLP-I has broader actions in human physiology. To investigate this issue we examined the tissue distribution of GLP-I receptor using RNAse protection assay in order to avoid the cross-reactivities with structurally related receptors and to increase the sensitivity of detection. The riboprobe was synthetized from the human pancreatic GLP-I receptor cDNA and used in hybridization experiments with total RNA isolated from different human tissues. In addition to the pancreas, we found expression of GLP-I receptor mRNA in lung, brain, kidney, stomach and heart. Peripheral tissues which are the major sites of glucose turnover, such as liver, skeletal muscle and adipose did not express the pancreatic form of the GLP-I receptor. We also cloned and sequenced GLP-I receptor cDNA from human brain and heart. The deduced amino acid sequences are the same as the sequence found in the pancreas. These results indicate that GLP-I might have effects beyond the pancreas, including the cardiovascular and central nervous systems where a receptor with the same ligand binding specificity is found.
