The unprocessed gastrin precursor, progastrin (PG), is often overexpressed in colon cancer
and other malignancies where it appears to stimulate colonic growth. Overexpression of
progastrin also stimulates proliferation of normal colonic mucosa, but the receptors
mediating these effects have not been identified. Here we report the development of a non-
radioactive assay for assessment of PG binding to normal and transformed cells. Progastrin
was labeled using biotinylation, and binding of biotinylated PG to cells was assessed using …