Abstract: | Receptors for the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were characterized on enterocytes isolated from Rat small intestine. Native VIP inhibited competitively the binding of 125I-VIP to enterocytes and strongly stimulated cyclic AMP production; both these effects were observed for concentrations of VIP as low as 0.5-1.0 ng/ml (0.15-0.30 nM) which are compatible with the VIP concentration in the gut. |