Current status on chromogranin A and pancreastatin
Robberecht, P.; Lingier, P.; Woussen-Colle, M.C.
Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica 56(3-4): 261-263
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 1784-3227 PMID: 8266767 Document Number: 417990
The authors review the biochemical and biological properties of chromogranins and pancreastatin. Chromogranins A, B and C are acidic proteins of a molecular mass of 48,000, 76,000 and 67,000, respectively, located in the secretory granules of the neuroendocrine cells. Since large amounts of chromogranin A were found in most neuroendocrine tumours, chromogranin A plasma determination is a diagnostic tool even in silent tumours. Pancreastatin is a peptide derived from chromogranin A, which inhibits insulin secretion, exocrine pancreatic secretion and gastric acid secretion, and which stimulates glucagon secretion. Pancreastatin has different molecular forms, the major form being a high molecular form of 92 amino acids, found by the authors in human stomach- and colon extracts and in a liver metastasis of a gastrinoma. The controlled proteolysis of chromogranin A in gut neuroendocrine cells generates predominantly the high molecular weight form.